The Oyre Effect: Part One: Culminations
by mandomemory
Summary: The Republic ARC trooper A-14 'Ando' finds himself stranded on a hostile moon with the infuriating young Mandalorian woman Vhe'dn Oyre, and the only way to make it out alive is to call a truce and work together. Inspired by Republic Commando series.
1. Chapter 1

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. Characters belong to me. Do not use without permission.

**----------------------------**

**The Oyre Effect**

**Part One: Culminations**

**Character Bios****:**

**.**

**Vhe'dn Oyre (FAY-dn oh-YAY-er)**

**Age: 17**

**Height: 5' 1"**

**Sex: Female**

**Homeworld: Corellia**

**Current Residence: Mandalore**

**Species: Zabrak/Kiffar/Human**

**Affiliations: The Mandalorians**

**.**

**Ando (AN-doh)**

**Age: 11 years (physically 22)**

**Height: 6'**

**Sex: Male**

**Homeworld: Kamino**

**Species: Human Clone**

**Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army**

**Rank: Advanced Recon Commando Lieutenant**

**Status: Deployed**

**.**

**Sevets (SEHV-ehts)**

**Age: 11 years (physically 22)**

**Height: 6'**

**Sex: Male**

**Homeworld: Kamino**

**Species: Human Clone**

**Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army**

**Rank: Advanced Recon Commando Commander**

**Status: Deployed**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter One**

_Events take place on an unnamed, mostly temperate forest moon, approx. a year and a half into the Clone Wars... the actions surrounding a small skirmish between the clone troops of the Republic and a small battalion of hired Mandalorian soldiers dwindles into a festering impasse, as the Mandalorians are slowly outnumbered and pull away... a small, momentary victory, as the rest of the larger battle takes place elsewhere... while most is settling in this area, one fight remains between a certain ARC trooper and Mandalorian..._

_"Hwuh!" _ Ando jerked his head back just quick enough to avoid a shock stick being jammed up under his helmet. He watched the crackling blue electricity blaze past his visor, trailing popping and buzzing noises. He could vividly hear his ragged breath rattling in his ears.

Ando had been trained by multiple Mandalorians during his decade on Kamino, but the full realization of their tenacity hadn't registered until this mission-

-and this what he estimated to be five foot Mandalorian woman dancing death circles around him!

He could hear the woman grunt as she took another wild swing at him, easily avoidable. She was clearly exhausted. Ando knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped up; as if she wasn't already. His blaster, _misplaced_ minutes before, wouldn't be necessary, he decided.

The woman wound up for another swing, which Ando prepared to stop. What he wasn't planning for was the mad yell as she flung her entire body weight at him, pummeling him to the ground. More shocking to Ando than finding himself stumbling to the earth was that she had even managed to put him there, given how he affectively dwarfed her.

"_Oof!" _Ando hit the ground hard, the Mandalorian tumbling off him, over his right shoulder. He lost sight of her and had a moment of panic as he rolled and scrambled to get to his feet. He flung his head around just in time to see something flying at his face.

"Oh, _fierf-!_"

Ando's head snapped back as the bludgeon caught him right under the chin. He hit the ground again, harder this time. Dazed and in pain, he laid there for what seemed an eternity to him. Then he was aware of the Mandalorian piling onto him, attempting to yank his helmet off. He grabbed her wrists, jerked, and _kicked_, sending her flying over his head. He heard her yell when she hit the ground behind him. Groggily, he rolled over, forcing himself to his knees. The woman was pushing herself up, clearly injured from the toss, but also right next to her shock stick. He stood fully, and she charged at him with her weapon, yelling in a last ditch attempt. He deftly grabbed her wrist as the stick came sailing at him. He _twisted_ and the woman cried out in pain as her hand released and the stick went tumbling to the ground. He hooked her leg with his foot and pulled it out from underneath her, still holding her wrist. Her cry grew louder, crecendoing into a wail of pain as the weight was added to her damaged wrist. It was done. Ando panted, slightly dizzy. The woman pulled a little against his hold, grinding out whimpers of pain between clenched teeth.

"_Enough_. You've done enough damage already," he said.

Two troopers suddenly appeared, pushing through the brush around them. A wave of relief washed over him.

"Troopers, take this woman into custody," he said.

"Yes sir."

They approached and took her from him, one to each arm, keeping her hands well away from her gauntlets.

"And be careful; she bites," he added. He was too tired to think of anything witty.

A trooper went to remove her helmet, and she growled, jerking against their hold as they did so. He pulled the helmet over her head and dozens of long minibraids, pulled back in a pony tossed around her shoulders. She looked very clearly angry, feral, exposing her teeth in a menacing grimace as she fought her captors. Ando started; she couldn't have been over sixteen. Then again, he was technically only eleven, and he had seen odder things in this war.

The woman fought as the troopers dragged her in the direction of the rest of the troops. She was staring at him, and Ando slowly removed his helmet.

"I'll meet you back there in a few minutes," he said.

The woman suddenly stilled, falling completely silent. He watched the anger vanish from her face, instead being replaced by a look of utter shock.

_"Fett??"_ she spoke. It was the first thing he'd heard her say. He stared steadily back into her eyes.

Then the troopers dragged on, and she looked startled by it, breaking his gaze and looking around her, suddenly seeming confused, desperate, and timid. She stumbled as she tried to gain a foothold on the ground. Her gaze returned to him, and her expression was one of... plea, or shocked betrayal. So she was unaware of the origins of this army, Ando observed. He watched for a few more moments, unemotional, then turned away and went to collect her things.

The troopers and the Mandalorian vanished into the bushes.

_Damned Mandalorians... _he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

When Ando returned to the cleared out area where the Republic's troops were regrouping, he felt the waves of exhaustion exuded from the soldiers wash over him. They were all tired. The terrain was almost as much of a hassle as the Mandalorians spread out among the trees around them, hidden from their sight, but not out of their minds. The battle that had taken place in this area was done, but there was an uneasiness about the troops that could not be missed. The retreat of the Mandalorians had been disorganized and... _subtle_... like they had just morphed back into the forest. Ando could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle under his neck cowl; it was like being scrutinized. He felt as though the Mandalorians could see them now, but he couldn't see them, and he could feel that the troops felt it too.

Ando's sight fell upon the Mandalorian he had subdued, still pancaked between the two troopers, all sitting with their legs over the side of one of the three gunships. She had been relieved of her gauntlets, and given a nice pair of stun cuffs. Her long braids sat over her shoulders.

Ando shifted his hold on his helmet, tucked under his left arm and approached.

As he grew closer, he noted her disgruntled expression. Multiple troopers around her had doffed their helmets; she would have recognized the _similarities_ between them all by now, and figured out the situation.

The woman raised her head to look him in the face as she caught sight of his boots. She scowled at him. It annoyed him for some reason.

"No reason to act so angry, Ma'am," he said to her. "It's nothing personal. Capture is just an inevitable part of war."

"I suppose betrayal is, too," she hissed at him. She was all vehemence. "The Republic never ceases to disgust me."

"Aw, come on, I'm not that bad looking, am I?" he baited her.

She scrunched up her nose, but seemed to reevaluate him, then said sarcastically, "You're not my type."

Ando took her in, looking on the outside to be disinterested. It was an almost unconscious thing for him, observation. To anticipate was to be more prepared, and being prepared kept you alive. She was Zabrak; small, blunt horns graced her forehead. Her skin was tan, but nowhere near as dark as his, and freckles flecked across her nose. He could clearly tell she was angry, but her's was a deep, brooding anger. Despite her mood and her knit together eyebrows, not a crease was left on her skin. It was such a subtle scowl, but one of the most threatening he'd ever seen; like she was _boiling_. She was incredibly small; she looked tiny compared to the troopers around her, much shorter and much slighter; not scrawny, but certainly _thin_. She wasn't built for combat; probably why he had found her attempting to sabotage their perimeter alarms. He reaffirmed his estimation of sixteen, but the sixteen didn't reach her eyes. They were much too sharply intelligent, like she was reading him. Charcoal armor plates. Grey-purple jumpsuit. She looked _dark_, but it wasn't a morbid dark. It was a _sharp_ dark, that could make a being question if he was acting the proper way in a public place when she looked at him.

Ando was unmoved by the scrutiny.

"Prepare this gunship to return to the main camp. I'll be escorting the prisoner to Commander Sevets," he told the troopers sitting on either side of the Mandalorian.

"Sir, passing that way... you'll be in a completely comm silent area for most of the flight, and not like what there is across the whole planet, where you can still communicate between short-distanced, secure comm channel. We're getting some sort of natural energy disruptions that make it impossible for even our short-ranged comm units to function," the trooper to the left said.

The comment just reminded Ando again of the horrible situation they were in. Where the Seps had communications, they'd somehow managed to block the majority of the Republic's. It was just a painful reminder of how if communications weren't reestablished for the Republic, none of them would make it off the planet alive.

"I realize that," Ando responded. He brandished to the woman between them. "But there's a good chance those Mandalorians will be back to retrieve their friend; they're notoriously loyal to their own kind, and she could very well be a very strategic piece in this game of dejarik."

Ando had never played dejarik, but it seemed like a good thing to say.

"She's effectively a hostage now, trooper. Either she'll talk, or her posse will."

"Yes, sir," the trooper said, and went to stand.

Ando turned, looking around the camp. This mission was a nightmare...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Vhe'dn Oyre itched to cross her arms over her chest, and she would have, if not for the stun cuffs around her wrists. She settled for looking surly and leaning heavily against the crash webbing behind her. She felt the rumble of the gunship engine like a lull. They had taken off moments ago.

They were _clones_. Of course she had known they were clones before she had accepted this mission; neither her nor the rest of the Mandalorians who accompanied her would have taken the job without information, and this war had gone on long enough for word to spread about the Republic's soldiers. For all their speak of 'greater good' and 'justice', they still employed the use of cloned _slaves_ to fight their war. Vhe'dn could pity them.

Well, she _could_. Past tense.

Her scowl deepened as she analyzed the last hour of her life. She had been shocked when the ARC Lieutenant had taken off his helmet. Rightfully so. Jango Fett was _dead_. He had been so for over a year. That in itself was shock enough. As she had been escorted back to the camp, and seen the rest of the troopers though, it had turned into some sick joke. She had been angry at herself, that it had not dawned on her until she had seen dozens of Jangos walking around the camp in trooper armor.

_Clones_.

They were _Jango clones_.

She was furious. When she had said the Republic never ceased to disgust her, she had _meant_ it. It was a disgrace. They had used Jango Fett's DNA, a _Mandalorian_ to create these wet droids that mindlessly served this excuse for a governmet. Jango Fett had been carelessly slaughtered by the same government these soldiers now served. It made her sick.

The ARC looked equally disgruntled, she noted. He was standing on the deck, leaning against the bulkhead. He had his helmet on, but she could tell from his body language that he was in a similar mood. Rightfully; the Mandalorians hadn't exactly made it easy for the Republic's troops.

They had been hired by the Separatists for detail work. Sabotage. Picking any troops off that they could. There were merely fifteen of them. Most were tech experts. Hackers. The others were geared toward assassinations. She was part of the former. Vhe'dn itched to get at her gaunts, and to the security of the wires and ports, and the familiar viewscreen that made up her gaunt's computer console.

Vhe'dn let her mind wander to her companions. _Osik_. She hoped she hadn't botched this whole job.

"So I take it you knew Fett?"

Vhe'dn looked up. She met the t-visor of the ARC's helmet staring back at her. It would have been unnerving to one who wasn't used to speaking at a helmet, but to her, it was natural. They looked eerily like Mandalorian helmets.

"No, I didn't," Vhe'dn responded, deciding to be civil. "I knew him by name; by _face_."

They were fracking _Fett_ clones.

"I was trained in part by Fett," the ARC said calmly, almost more to himself than to her. Concord Dawn's influence was evident in his accent.

Vhe'dn felt her anger spark again.

"_What?_" she scoffed. "Fett was Mandalorian! Where would you have gotten training from him? Fett wouldn't have helped train an army loyal to the Republic!"

The ARC straightened up. He was imposing, she admitted to herself.

"Money plays an important part in Galactic affairs; or so I've been told," the ARC said. He sounded bitter, sarcastic. Vhe'dn bristled.

"Well I suppose I can't hold it against you for not understanding how people work," Vhe'dn laughed harshly. She darkened. "It is a _disgrace_ to have Fett's face on every one of you inferior lot."

The ARC took a step forward, jerking a threatening finger in her direction. Vhe'dn pulled her head back a little.

"You better watch your mouth, Mandalorian," the ARC snarled.

"You're unbelievable!" Vhe'dn burst, persisting. "The _Republic_ is unbelievable! Argh, I can't believe their _nerve!_ If anything, you wet droids should be serving Mandalore, not stomping all over the Mandalorian remnant!"

The ARC darkened before her. "_None_ of us are _Mando_. We weren't raised it, we weren't made it. All we have is our brothers, and those _damned_ animals _you_ call brethren out there slaughtering them."

Vhe'dn was baffled.

"Wh- "

Her response was drowned out by a large _boom_, followed by a violent toss of the ship.

"Woah!"

Vhe'dn was tossed out of her seat and onto the floor. She tried to bring her arms up to break her fall, but the stun cuffs impeded her, and she hit the floor hard. Her already sore wrist throbbed.

The ARC stumbled and crashed against the wall.

"Pilot!" he called, as he went to push himself back up. Vhe'dn groaned and went to do the same. "What's happening??"

"Sir, we're being fired on by some sort of AD tower!" the pilot allowed. "I can't locate a thing; all of our targeting and sensor instruments are down, along with communications."

"Fierfek," the ARC muttered. "What is an air defense tower doing in the middle of the forest?" Vhe'dn stood and back stepped into her seat.

"We're going to crash, aren't we?" she deadpanned.

The ARC looked at her, and if she read his body right, he was giving her a 'what the hell??' sort of look. She lifted her cuffed hands in front of her.

"Can you at least strap me in so I survive _your_ mistake?"

The ARC stared at her, and the ship was suddenly rocked again. Vhe'dn clenched her teeth and flung her arms around to cling to the crash webbing behind her.

The ARC stumbled around, barely staying on his feet. He steadied and looked at her, then at the pilot, and back at her. She raised her eyebrow in expectance.

The ARC looked to be torn between two things, then he growled from under his helmet and came over to her, getting her into her straps.

"Don't try anything girl, or _you'll_ be piloting us away from the bad guys," he said, fishing for her straps.

Vhe'dn smiled up at him, a closed lipped smile that was more of a threat than anything. "I know when to quit fighting and wait for the enemy to do something _for_ me."

The ARC stared at her, then pulled away.

"Get us out of this, Agro," the ARC said calmly to the pilot, retreating to his own side of the ship, strapping in.

"No reminders needed," the pilot muttered. The ship was rocked even more violently than before. Vhe'dn felt her bones rattle.

_Ugh._

She looked at the ARC across from her. _Wayii_, he was frustrating.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

They had been shot down.

Ando groaned and rolled his neck around in a slow, tender circle. He was aware of a crackling sound, but it was distant, to him, at least. He could feel himself fighting unconsciousness. He squinted his eyes, attempting to chase away the dark fuzz that threatened to consume his vision. An icon on his hud was flashing, and it hurt his eyes. He raised his head to look across from him. The ship was dark, but he could make out the Mandalorian across from him, due to the flames that licked the ship to the left of him; he noted _those_. It was a weak fire. He also noted that the girl was effectively unconscious.

Tenderly, he went to release his crash webbing. He pushed himself out of his seat and stumbled to the cockpit. He grabbed the seat for support and looked over at the pilot.

"Agro... anything hurt?"

"Just bruised, sir," Agro replied. His voice was stronger than Ando's was, who still felt too dizzy to process a situation fully. He was fumbling with something that Ando couldn't see, "but it's crunched pretty bad up here; my legs are caught and my webbing won't release." He grunted and strained against them.

"Hold on, I'll find something to cut you out," Ando moved to do so.

"Get the hostage out first; I can hear the flames back there and it would be a shame to melt part of that face," Agro said. Ando pondered the remark.

"Hit the door controls. With luck, they'll work, or I'll be sawing for hours," he said.

"Everything else is down, so we'll be lucky if they do," Agro responded. He hit some buttons.

Ando moved to the girl; and she was a girl. As he leaned over her to release her crash webbing, he looked at her face, lit by the flickering flames. Unconscious, her eyes were closed and her face was blank, and Ando suddenly couldn't imagine that ferocious expression she had worn up to this point returning. She looked far softer without it, and only the armor that she wore gave away that she was not so innocent.

There was a shriek of metal scraping, and the ship was bathed in a grey light. The door. Ando straightened a little, relieved.

"Well, looks like it's our lucky day," Ando said. He leaned back down to push the Mandalorian's webbing off her arms. "Only thing that could make this a better field trip would be if we squashed an animal on the way down so we could escape these field rations."

"If you say so," Ando heard from the cockpit. "I always knew you ARCs were crazy, but I expected you guys to be a little more threatening; sir."

"Some are," Ando said, wondering why there weren't Zabrak tattoos on the girl's face, "but I've befriended far too many flight jockeys to not develop a sense of humor."

Something caught Ando's eye. He glanced down at the floor; the girl's gauntlets. He paused, then reached down and chucked them out the ship. He grabbed a supplies bag about to be consumed by flames and threw it over his shoulder. He spotted a spare DC-15S, and reach down to his side to make sure his own weapons were still in their holsters. They were, and he threw the spare blaster in the supplies bag. He then went to lift the girl and his sore muscles protested, despite how light she was. He shifted his hold on her across his front and paced to the open door.

"There should be clippers in this bag; I'll be back to cut you out in a moment," Ando called.

"Hey, definitely check to see if we _did_ hit something, because meat sounds _good_," Agro called back.

Ando smiled slightly from under his helmet.

"It'll be on you, Agro," he said, and leaped the distance to the ground.

His knees screamed at him when he landed, but he ignored it. The ground was hard packed dirt. He stooped to snatch the girl's gauntlets from the ground. He walked a good distance from the ship and laid the girl down on the ground. Squatting, he swung the pack around and opened it, fishing for clippers. None.

_Fierfek_, he thought. He stood and began to jog back to the ship. He was about sixteen feet from it when it exploded.

Ando yelled as he was violently thrown back from the force of the explosion.

"_Oof!!"_ he hit the ground hard, tumbling to a halt on his stomach. He laid there for a few moments.

Ando groaned and pushed his head off from the ground, stunned. Suddenly his head cleared and he gasped, looking up at the burning, skeletal remains of the ship.

"_No..."_

Ando pushed himself to his feet and went running desperately for the ship. There was another, smaller explosion that shot debris all over. He yelled again, and threw his arms up, screeching to a halt. He stared up at the ship in horror.

"_No, no, no, no, no..."_ he chanted.

The noise was unbearable; the crackling of flames, the screech of metal, the crunch of things collapsing. Ando was sure he could hear Agro screaming, but he knew it was his mind just playing sick tricks on him, playing on the guilt that threatened to consume him. It was his [i]fault[/i]. He had made them fly over this zone, despite the logistics...

It was his _fault_. Ando felt sick.

_No_.

Ando shook the thoughts away. He couldn't let himself turn into a head case in this situation. He had to concentrate. A new plaque hit him with a punch.

Ando quickly spun around to look for the girl. For some reason, he was having a hard time picturing her as an enemy in her unconscious state. Even though Ando had no qualms about hitting a young woman; everyone could be an enemy, it was a dirty fact of war; this girl seemed too real.

She was a safe distance away, but the debris had spread much farther. He ran over to her, squatting at her side. She was fine, still peacefully unconscious. He gently lifted her head and felt the bump on the back of her skull. He hoped it wasn't a concussion. His concern suddenly frustrated him. She _was_ the enemy, pure and simple, but... he couldn't muster the anger he should have had for her. She was injured, possibly suffering from a concussion... he blamed the concern on his field medic training. She was alive though.

Ando looked back to the flames of the ship. It continued to pop and send shards into the air. It was a beacon that said, _Come here bad guys; we're defenseless_. They had to move.

Ando threw the girl's gaunts into the supplies bag and zipped it closed. He threw it over his shoulder, then stooped low and hoisted the girl into his arms. She showed no signs of waking up soon. He looked back one more time at the burning ship.

"I'm sorry, Agro; we didn't even hit anything for dinner..." he said.

He then turned and walked into the trees.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Vhe'dn jumped, aware of someone touching her head. Disoriented and confused, she gasped and shot up, her hand sailing instinctively out in front of her, attempting to knock the unknown person away. The person deftly caught her wrist and she flailed blindly, falling back down onto her back. She couldn't see, eyes fuzzy from sleep. Someone urged her to be still.

"_Udesii_..." the person said soothingly, and Vhe'dn paused, confused. The person released her wrist and she pushed herself to a sitting position. She blinked quickly, trying to clear her vision, the ambient light hurting her eyes and sending a pounding pain to her head. She rubbed her eyes and forced them to focus.

The ARC came into view, eerily Jango, crouching in front of her. He gave her a wan, closed-lipped smile. Her heart sunk, not seeing a Mandalorian before her, but the emotion was quickly replaced by confusion.

"_What?_" she asked, questioning she had heard right.

"Take it easy," the ARC urged. He seemed to be looking her over with a concerned, reassuring expression. It reminded her of a nurse seeing a coma patient awake in a hospital, if it did not seem to be so put on. "You suffered a minor concussion when we crashed. You've been asleep for a while. You should be fine, though; so far you've lived up to the Zabraki toughness."

So they _had_ crashed.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want your cargo damaged," Vhe'dn said sourly. She could feel her pulse in her temples, and it was dizzyingly painful. She didn't _feel_ fine.

The ARC wasn't amused.

"_Already_, I'm beginning to regret saving your life," he said, tactfully calm but clearly impatient as he pushed himself up and moved away.

" _'Save my life'?"_ Vhe'dn burst. She regretted it, as it sent shock waves of throbbing pain to her temples. "You're the one who put us in this mess!_ I_ don't even have comm ability in this area!"

She looked around at the cleared-out area of hard-packed dirt, sparse, gnarly trees with canopies that blocked them from being seen from the air. She spotted an open bag, a few supplies, the ARC's helmet and... nothing else.

"Where's the ship?" she questioned.

The ARC, back still to her, looked over his shoulder and said, "Let's just say _exploding_ wreaked havoc with some of it's more... _important _features."

Vhe'dn paused, shaken to silence. She looked around.

"Where's the pilot?" she questioned.

"He didn't make it."

Vhe'dn grimaced.

"Where's my gear?" she asked slowly.

The ARC stopped walking. She could have sworn he flinched. He didn't look at her.

"Your... _helmet_ was destroyed in the explosion," he sounded almost guilty.

Vhe'dn gaped.

"_You blew up my bucket?"_ she screamed, flying to her feet. Her vision honey-combed, the pressure on her head was so much. She swayed, stumbled, and then took a few unsteady steps towards the ARC. He turned to face her, as if steeling himself for a beating he was ready to sit out. She ignored the twin holsters on his thighs, pointing an incriminating finger up at him.

"You-!..." words failed her and she let out an angry, exasperated growl. Her hands flew to cover her mouth suddenly. _"Where's my computer?_" she breathed, panicked. The ARC stared at her, incredulous.

Vhe'dn swung her head around to the supplies bag and began to pace for it. The ARC leapt after her.

"Woah!" he called, seizing her arm and yanking her away from the bag as she bent to rummage through it.

"Hey!" she cried, tugging on her arm, but the ARC held fast, tightening his grip.

"Listen, sweetheart, just because we're stranded here doesn't mean you're not still a prisoner," the ARC growled.

Vhe'dn scoffed. "I know as well as you that I'm just a liability now." She jerked her arm again, but the ARC still refused to release his grip, scowling down at her.

It became a staring contest, both willing the other to crack. Vhe'dn glared at him and he returned the glare with equal intensity. She suddenly realized how immensely larger he was than her, and how imposing the menagerie of plastoid plates were. And he was fascinating in a way she couldn't explain. He was so... _human_ with his helmet off that it made it hard for her to picture him as the mindless, order-taking machine he was. For her, he blurred the lines between human and droid, and she found it increasingly eerie.

But her glare didn't waver. Moments passed. Finally, the ARC sighed and brought his free hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Your gauntlets are _fine_, Mandalorian," he said, sounding weary. "They're in the bag. See?" he released her and bent to show her. Relief washed over her, and she felt her anger drain away. She was satisfied. He stared at her for a few moments as if reading her reaction, then straightened, towering over her. "Satisfied?"

"Yes," she said, taking a mental step back. "My name is Vhe'dn, by the way; not _Mandalorian_," she said earnestly. She paused. "What's your designation?"

The ARC stared warily down at her. "A-14, Ma'am."

She put her hands on her hips and sighed dramatically. "Well, A-14, looks like it's time we began to reevaluate our relationship due to recent developments."

A-14 just stared at her, then stooped and closed the bag, flinging it over his shoulder and pacing away from her. Vhe'dn stood in place, watching him retreat, then walked back over to where she had been laying. Her wrap lay on the ground, heavy, soft, and thick. Her ears and nose were freezing, she realized; winter was close to arriving on this planet. She grasped the cloak and threw it over her, wrapping the dark material around her head and shoulders, trying to protect the areas not kept warm by her flight suit. She pressed her palm against her nose, urging it to warm. Her fingertips brushed her forehead, and paused, confused. She felt around and discovered bandages wrapped around her head. _Concussion,_ she remembered. She glanced over to A-14, who was rummaging through the bag.

"I guess I should thank you for patching me up... and for saving my life," Vhe'dn reconsidered. "But I suppose choosing me over the pilot was just prisoner-informant situation programming."

A-14 spun to face her. "_Trust me_," he hissed, "if I could have saved _him_, I would have."

Vhe'dn raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to make me feel good?"

A-14 straightened, and there was a definite gleam in his eye, a purpose. "_No_," he tapped his chest with an open palm, indicating his adamancy. "It's supposed to make you _understand_." He seemed almost desperate for her to.

Vhe'dn was taken aback. She stared hard at him, trying to discern meaning. He was making it very difficult for her to picture him as a droid indeed.

A-14 finally let out a little frustrated growl and crouched down to continue digging through the bag.

Vhe'dn stood still, thinking to herself, watching the ARC dig. She decided he didn't look very much like the holos of Fett that she'd seen; not that she knew exactly what Fett looked like anyway. This 'Fett' was far younger, early twenties probably, and his face was different in the way identical twins could look completely unalike due to the emotions and expressions that each had grown up having. He presented himself differently, and it transformed him. She also decided he didn't really have a clue what he was digging for. She thought to his reaction, the obvious anger behind it. Her curiosity sparked.

"Do you-clones, I mean- do you... feel?" she questioned tentatively.

"If you mean physical pain, of course," A-14 said without pause. He wasn't paying much attention to her. She figured she didn't appear much of a threat when he was armed and she was not. He looked very... elite, and comfortable in it's assurance.

"No," Vhe'dn said, lowering herself to the ground, sitting cross-legged. She didn't take the comfortability as an insult. He wasn't threatening her, so right now she was calm, and seeking understanding. She adjusted her wrap over her head. "I meant do you feel pain in an emotional sense."

A-14 looked over at her, as though just seeing something for the first time about her.

She gave him a small smile. "I know when I've made a mistake, and I must admit I am beginning to think I know very little about the clones of the _Grand Army_ of the Republic."

He stared at her, then he looked away and said softly, "Yes. Yes we do. Very much so."

"Like humans?"

"Exactly like humans."

Vhe'dn paused, unsure of what to say. "I didn't realize," she muttered. "I'm sorry about the pilot, then."

A-14 stood then, placing his hands on his hips, and staring down at her with an untrusting expression. Vhe'dn craned her neck to look in his face.

"What happened to the attitude?" he inquired.

"Is that a crack at my age?"

"Never."

Vhe'dn narrowed her eyes at him, then shrugged. "Maybe I just know when to take it back a few steps," she suggested. "Maybe I'm tired and hungry. Maybe you're not the one to blame, and the people who made you _are_."

The ARC seemed uncomfortable. He reached into a case on his belt and withdrew a colorless cube.

"Here," he muttered, handing it down to her awkwardly. "Not exactly fine dining, but it'll fill you up."

Vhe'dn reached up and took the cube. She sniffed it once, screwing up her nose, then popped it in her mouth and chewed. It was awful.

"It's awful," she said.

A-14 grimaced.

"It's awful, but _thank you_," she said. She gave him a genuine smile.

He looked at her with a curious expression that she could have sworn approached a small smile and turned around, finally rummaging through the supplies bag with a purpose. Vhe'dn looked at the ground and breathed in the sharp, cold air.

This was turning out to be a very interesting job, indeed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Commander Sevets breathed a heavy, disgruntled sigh from under his helmet. No one else could hear his distress; he had switched off all output of sound from his helmet. It was an escape. He could have screamed, and the troops around him would not have been able to tell. He almost felt like indulging in the fantasy. Almost.

He gazed out at the battle unfolding in front of him. The enormous battlefield was smoking and hazy, comprised of the fine, dry dirt that had been stirred up and the trees that had been days ago burned and crushed to the ground in the chaos. He was sick of hearing death reports. They kept rolling in with numbers far too high for his sanity. His men were _dying_ out there and there wasn't a _damn_ thing he could do about it. Sevets itched for _purpose_. He understood the importance of command, but right now his command had no effect on anything. He was an Advanced Recon Commando. He should have been out perusing the forest, searching for the _blasted_ installation that was blocking their communications. This engagement was only to keep the Seps from pressing forward. They were a _roadblock_, a hill of _bodies_ to make it hard for the battle droids to walk over, just waiting for communications to resume.

Blast it, _Ando would have just the right_ mirshebs _comment for this situation that would give me something else to focus this frustration on..._ Sevets thought.

But he, of course, had no contact with his cohort A-14. At least Ando was out _doing something_. No matter how unforgiving the forest, his job had to be easier than _his._

******************

Ando set the last perimeter alarm; the rest were scattered among the trees, surrounding the temporary camp. For how peaceful and devoid of life the forest seemed, many dangerous predators roamed the woods. Ando was suppressing many emotions he didn't feel ready to deal with, burying it in routine busyness. His mind kept finding ways to drift back to Agro, though, and then to the frustrating little detail of what he was suppose to do with his 'prisoner.' He began to pace back into the temporary camp.

No, he hadn't known Agro very long at all. A few days maybe. Ando wasn't even sure if he liked the man very much, but he was a solid sort of guy, and even though he seemed to be chronically ill tempered, he at least put some of that pessimism into sarcastic jokes.

"You spoke _Mando'a_."

Lost in thought, Ando looked up just as his feet hit the edge of the ring. He saw the Mandalorian staring at him expectantly from where she sat in the middle of the camp. He paused. What did she say her name was? Right; Vhe'dn.

"What?"

"Before," she said. "You spoke _Mando'a_."

Ando suddenly regretted the simple word. He removed his helmet and ruffled his hair, however short, then raked his fingers through it to smooth it back into place, calming his nerves and buying time. "I thought it would calm you faster," he finally said. He paused, unsure of how to continue. "Should I not have?"

_That was a stupid thing to say..._

The Mandalorian- no, _Vhe'dn_- looked at him curiously.

"You really were trained by Fett, weren't you?" she said slowly. Ando just stared grimly at her. She looked down at the ground.

"_Why?_" she murmured, clearly having some sort of inner thought struggle. Ando just remained quiet, watching her. Conversation with her was frustrating. Sympathy didn't strike him, but he felt the push to say _something._

"Like I said earlier," he offered, shifting the position of the supplies bag slung across his back and sauntering closer to her, "money plays a big part in motives."

Vhe'dn looked at him and gave a harsh laugh, her mouth forming into a reluctant combination of a smile and grimace. She looked defeated, her forearms resting heavily on her knees, shoulders sagged forward. Ando observed her, then was suddenly ambushed by pity. He just could not see her as threatening. He almost preferred her angry and feral; at least then she was easily identifiable as _enemy_. He frustrated himself. He _knew_ the girl was on the other side, but she was being _far_ too well mannered now.

Technically, she had nothing against him, did she? This was all about credits for her. Unless she had some sort of a grudge against the Grand Army... Ando gave a quiet, resigned sigh, angry at himself for trying to validate the girl.

Vhe'dn then sighed loudly, and swiftly stood. Her eyebrows shot up and she blinked rapidly, swaying, reaching for her head. She was still dizzy then. She stumbled backwards, careening towards the ground. Ando's stomach flipped and he reached out with his free arm to snatch her forearm as she fell, overestimating her weight and pulling her back up with a bit too much force. She crashed against his armor plates, and he grabbed her shoulder to steady her.

Vhe'dn craned her neck up to see him, mouth open a fraction. Then she laughed nervously, pushing herself away from him with her palms.

"Sorry..." she said quietly, giving a small breath of another laugh. " 'Guess I'm a still a _tad_ unsteady."

Ando's felt his face burn, which made it burn even worse. Vhe'dn brushed the front of her armor plates, though Ando observed they were clean.

"So," she snapped, voice strong again. She put her fists on her hips and looked up at him, putting more weight on her right leg than her left. "What's the plan?"

Ando raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"The plan," she repeated eagerly. Ando stared at her and she jerked her head impatiently. "To get out of here? What's the plan? What are we going to do?"

"First of all," Ando began, shifting his hold on his helmet and pacing around her, "there is no '_we_.' "

"What?" Vhe'dn snapped, turning quickly to face him again.

Ando gave an exaggerated shrug. "Like you said: you're nothing but a liability now. There's no guarantee you won't stab me in my sleep, and there's no guarantee you won't find some way to call on your _Mando_ friends. You're not safe. So let's call it even, cut our losses, and go our separate ways."

Vhe'dn stared at him in disbelief, hip jutted even farther to the side. He saw her consciously close her mouth and cross her arms defensively across her chest. She looked at him in calm distaste.

"No _way_ are we splitting up now," she reasoned. "You have supplies."

"You can have some," Ando jousted.

"I know there's not enough in there for you to split it in two," Vhe'dn walked forward and prodded him threateningly in the chest plate. Ando bristled and stepped back, aware of the holsters on his thighs.

"You got us into this mess, and I'm well aware of how dangerous these woods are," Vhe'dn had a leering glint in her eye. She continued to walk towards him and Ando continued to step back. "You have supplies, you have weapons, and you have experience. I'd have it, too, if you'd give them back, and we'd both have a much better chance to survive_ together_."

"Forget it," Ando growled, forcing himself to stop back pacing. Vhe'dn stopped approaching.

"You can trust me," Vhe'dn cooed.

Ando raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "_Oh really?"_

"Really," Vhe'dn gave him a wicked smile. "I did this job for the credits. Killing _one clone_ won't make the paycheck. I have no personal reason to kill you. So let's work together, eh? Think about it."

She prodded him once more in the chest, then spun around, her braids bouncing all over, and paced away from him. Ando watched her retreat. She turned back to him once more.

"_Ven'bic jate. Mhi solus narudare_," she said matter-of-factly_. It'll be good. We're only temporary allies_.

Ando sighed, and felt his mouth work for him. _"Ni n'emuuri ibic..." I don't like this..._

The side of Vhe'dn's mouth tugged upward. She looked far older than sixteen, he thought.

"Can I have my weapons back now?"

"Hell no."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Ow!"

Vhe'dn smacked Ando's hand away from her face again. Ando let out a frustrated little sound.

"_Vhe'dn_," he begged, the name sounding funny on his tongue; she had _insisted_ she be called by it, "could you _please_ just stay still?"

"Could you _please_ stop poking me in the eye, then?" she fired back. She rubbed her right eye with her palm.

Ando sighed heavily in impatience.

"I'm _trying_ to help you," he persisted, trying his best to stay calm. "And I didn't poke you in the eye!"

"Felt like it!" Vhe'dn snapped.

Ando closed his eyes and let out a hiss; if he hadn't, he was almost positive he would have suffered an aneurism.

"Please," he ground out slowly, "just let me see your reactions to make sure you're all right from hitting your head, and I'll leave you alone."

Ando flicked his eyes up to look her in the face again. Vhe'dn seemed to mull it over, and then grudgingly dropped her arms at her side with a dramatic breath. Ando sighed and leaned forward again on his haunches. He placed his fingers over her forehead and put his thumb over her left eyebrow. Her blunt cranial horns bumped his hand, and without his glove on, he was ambushed by a curiosity to examine them; he had never actually met a real Zabrak before. He resisted the temptation, though, guessing full well that the girl wouldn't be interested in hearing his medical excuse for wanting to pursue the idea.

Ando pulled Vhe'dn's eyelid up by pushing his thumb higher up her forehead and put the pointer finger of his other hand in front of her eye.

"Follow it," he said simply.

He moved his finger from side to side, and Vhe'dn moved her eye back and forth to track it. He decided to try small talk.

"Any reason why you don't have facial tattoos?"

"Hm?" Vhe'dn questioned lazily. Ando moved to her other eye.

"I know a lot about species. Zabraks usually have facial tattoos," Ando said. It was true; he _did_ know a lot about many species, but most of his knowledge about them was centered around the best ways to incapacitate them.

Vhe'dn shrugged. "I'm not full Zabrak. I've got some Kiffar and human in me too."

Ando paused. "Really?"

"Really. I guess the cultural urge to fit in just hasn't struck me yet," she was joking around.

"You're not dizzy anymore, correct?" he asked.

"Right."

Ando reached around her head and began to strip the cloth away. For some reason, he enjoyed how on every pass his arm would send Vhe'dn's dozens of braids swinging; long hair was a luxury in it's self, and Ando hadn't been around much long hair. It was fascinating. Vhe'dn reached up to massage her newly exposed forehead as he pulled the last of it away. She reached around her head and Ando followed her hand, feeling the bump.

"It's gone down already. Wasn't as bad as I thought, I guess," Ando said with a small, reassuring smile, pulling his hand away. Vhe'dn rubbed her head with a pained expression.

"You seem to know a lot about first aid," she said.

Ando stood, pulling his glove back on. "I know a lot more than first aid. My specialty is field medics and everything that implies."

"_Kandosii._.." Vhe'dn muttered, seemingly to roll the new information over in her mind.

Ando pressed on. "You should be well enough to travel, then."

Vhe'dn craned her neck to look up at him from where she was sitting. "What?"

"The plan," Ando started, sitting back down in front of her.

"Oh."

"You were right," Ando continued grimly. "I don't have enough supplies to split between the two of us; I don't have enough supplies for _me_ as it is. So the situation is that we're stranded here with few supplies and even less food and water."

"Joy," Vhe'dn drawled.

Ando ignored her. "So our priorities are finding supplies and getting out of here. Our only chance for both is at that AD tower that shot us down. They might have some way to communicate, at least."

Vhe'dn just stared at him. "You _do_ realize that they _shot you down_, right?" she said.

"Yes, yes I do."

"Isn't taking unnecessary risk against your programming or something?" Vhe'dn asked.

Ando sighed, defeated. "I thought I told you I don't have programming."

"No, you said you had human feelings."

"Doesn't one imply the other?"

"Not necessarily. Droids have human feelings," Vhe'dn asserted. "So, no."

Ando's mouth opened a fraction; he should have been used to this treatment by now, but it still angered him the same way every time he heard it from a new person.

"Droids have situation _programming_ and protocols, not feelings," Ando retorted. "It's all a computer that someone else made."

Vhe'dn continued to press her point. "You were made."

"Everyone's _made_, the only difference is that I was grown in a dish."

"That's eerie, stop it," Vhe'dn wrinkled her nose.

Ando gaped; having a conversation with the girl was harder than wrestling a ronto! He sighed heavily.

"Just- never mind," he muttered. "Are you coming with me to the AD tower, or not?"

"Of course I am," Vhe'dn said.

"All right, then," Ando pushed himself up again, and Vhe'dn followed him. He observed she was staring at the supplies bag on his back. "We don't have to stay here anymore. Make yourself useful and go pick up some of those perimeter alarms." He pointed out towards the trees.

Vhe'dn sighed. "You certainly don't waste time..." She was brushing her kama off. Ando noted it seemed to be made partially of suede and partially of a plum-colored, gathered material that seemed to be nothing more than decoration.

They both collected the perimeter alarms. When Vhe'dn reached for the pack to put her's away, Ando snatched them from her hand, putting them away himself. When he looked back up, Vhe'dn was glaring daggers at him.

"You'll see the supplies that you need, nothing more," he snipped.

Vhe'dn scoffed and turned away from him.

"You're still a prisoner, Mandalorian," he said, digging in the pack.

"_Vhe'dn!_" she reminded him, spinning back around, braids whipping over her shoulder. Ando pulled the stun cuffs from the bag and held them in front of her face. He took satisfaction in the way her eyes widened when she saw them.

"_What?!"_ she yelled. Ando flinched.

"Keep it down! We don't need to announce our presence to every carnivore in this region!" he hissed at her. She didn't listen.

"We're _partners_,_ burc'ya_," Vhe'dn growled, pointing a threatening finger up at him.

"No," Ando alliterated, "we're _not_."

"You think I'm going to let you _cuff_ me after the 'carnivore' comment?"

"Yes."

"What if we get attacked?!"

"Don't worry," Ando said, a smug smile on his face, "I'll _protect_ you."

Vhe'dn glared dangerously at him, then suddenly sighed dramatically and held her hands out in front of her.

"Behind you," Ando indicated.

Vhe'dn narrowed her eyes at him. "Pick your battles, Fourteen," she growled.

Indeed.

Ando compromised and placed the cuffs over Vhe'dn's wrists held out in front of her. Then he bent to pick up his helmet, pulling it over his head.

"I'll expect senatorial treatment for this," Vhe'dn grumbled. Ando scoffed. "But I'll play along for now. I'm not going to try to kill you, you know."

"You don't strike me as someone I should trust."

"That's just programming; this is logic speaking."

"_Training_. Not programming; _training_."

They began to walk. It was easy territory; there was little to none ground vegetation. Vhe'dn deemed to walk behind him, and Ando permitted it, but he kept an eye on her in a small video window on his HUD. She seemed to be taking in her surroundings with a wide-eyed curiosity, but she still looked angry somehow. She wasn't, though... she was just _sharp_. She always looked sharp.

After some time, Vhe'dn started singing, a melodic, catchy, rhythmic song that was nothing like the music Ando had ever heard. The lewd lyrics made him blush furiously, but he said nothing. Moments passed. Finally, he spun around to face her.

"What are you _doing?_" he asked, trying to drown out the previous line of song, fearing his cheeks would start fire.

Vhe'dn stopped walking, almost smashing right into him. She raised a curious, defensive eyebrow.

"Singing?" she chiding, looking at him as though asking what his problem was.

"Well, _don't_," Ando said, thankful for his helmet hiding his face. "We don't need to make anymore unnecessary noise. We don't want to attract anything."

Vhe'dn pretended to pout, then side stepped and walked ahead of him. Ando shook his head and followed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Vhe'dn rather enjoyed messing with A-14's mind; it was an easy enough thing to do. She could play the annoying teenager bit as long as it suited her, and as long as it got her information.

Evidently these clones weren't just mindless machines. She at least knew that they could feel frustration; lots of it, but then, she was trying very hard to make it that way. Vhe'dn knew herself well enough at this point to suspect that this was taking it a bit too far when it came to her insatiable curiosity, 'this' being following this ARC trooper, her technical enemy, through a barren forest teeming with carnivorous creatures. Well; education demanded sacrifices.

Vhe'dn stopped walking suddenly, turning around to look at the ARC.

"I can teach you the lyrics, if you'd like, Fourteen," she said, referring to the song she had moments before been singing.

Fourteen didn't stop. "_No thanks_," he said, his voice was full of malicious sarcasm. Vhe'dn turned back around, a satisfied smile forming across her lips. She wiped the smile from her face and resumed walking when Fourteen caught up to her, falling into step at his side; she knew it bothered him.

Vhe'dn looked down at her arms. They looked depressingly bare without her gauntlets, and the stun cuffs didn't help. No matter; she'd be rid of them soon. She had counted on it when she had submitted to them. She flexed her fingers, feeling Fourteen's eyes on her.

"So..." she started, looking up at him, "does everyone in the army know you as A-14?"

The little hitch in Fourteen's breathing was the only hint that told Vhe'dn that he was considering his answer carefully.

"No," he said finally. Vhe'dn waited.

"Besides 'Fourteen', too?" she queried.

"Uh huh," he said curtly. He never looked down at her. She persisted, despite the fact that she could tell he didn't wish to be having a conversation with her.

"Does that mean you have an actual name?"

Ando seemed to mentally pause, but he never stopped walking.

"Technically," he murmured.

"Well," Vhe'dn said, "what is it?"

There was a beat.

"It's Ando," he finally said, his voice betraying a hint of... sheepishness?

Vhe'dn smiled. "Ando?" she laughed, "Where did you get a name like that?"

Vhe'dn could feel his insecurity deepen. It fascinated her; one moment he could be an imposing adult, the next, a timid little child. Vhe'dn bubbled with the yearning to understand where those dynamics came from.

"I'm not making fun of you," she assured him, "I'm truly curious."

Ando seemed to bristle, and finally looked down at her. "And what would make you think that I should care one way or the other if you're making fun of me?"

His accent was delightful. He seemed to have picked up his pace, and Vhe'dn was finding herself having to add a hop-step into her canter to keep up with him; he was considerably taller. Vhe'dn saw through his security blanket of anger.

"What makes you think I should care if you care that I'm making fun of you?" Vhe'dn fired back; the teenaged attitude always seemed to disorient him.

It did again. Ando was silent and looked ahead of him. Vhe'dn, to her credit, said nothing.

He spoke. "It was during a live-fire training exercise," he sounded a little wistful, but the curtness still hadn't left his voice, "I was very young. When it ended, I remember being very disoriented and scared. My training sergeant and a sergeant that I didn't know had approached me. They were congratulating me on a job well done," his voice softened, "I was just happy to be alive. The sergeant was grinning and slapping me on the shoulder. He turned to my sergeant and said something that ended in 'just like a little Mando.' My ears were ringing so badly that I heard 'Ando.' It stuck."

His walk had slowed. Vhe'dn stared up at him; she hadn't expected such an answer. She was a little taken aback.

"It was a live-fire exercise?" Vhe'dn couldn't place a finger on her emotion. Was she confused? Curious? Appalled?

"Yes."

"How old were you?"

Ando paused, seeming to consider something. "Physically six."

Vhe'dn thought it an odd response.

"You were _six?" _Vhe'dn was shocked. "You were in live-fire exercises at _six?_" A thought crossed her mind. "You didn't get your name until you were _six?_" Vhe'dn knew she sounded stupid. "You were just... a number? How did you even see yourself?"

Ando closed off before her. She suddenly knew she had come on too strong for how sensitive he seemed to emotional outbursts. She mentally kicked herself.

"I was the GAR. Bred to be the best. I don't have to worry myself with trivial things like that. I knew who I was," it was a rote, bitter response.

Vhe'dn let the topic go, knowing that his openness was lost.

"Well, I think it's a nice name," she said, looking up at him. Ando turned his visored face to her. She gave him a closed-lipped smile. He looked back up, unaffected.

Vhe'dn looked back down at the stun cuffs around her wrists. She sighed silently to herself. She made a mental note to drop the 'annoying teenager' act when she started getting the information she wanted.

"Well," she tried, "a lot better than 'Fourteen,' any ways. I don't even think calling _droids_ by their number is very nice, and you've made it clear that you aren't one. I have a friend; he's an astromech droid, an R3 unit, but we call him 'Tosh.' "

"_Tosh_," Ando blanched. "Where do you get a name like that?"

Vhe'dn was ready to defend her friend, but suddenly realized that Ando was making fun of her.

"Ha!" Vhe'dn burst happily. "You can joke!"

Ando just groaned. They continued walking in silence.

"Jango never really was a good Mandalorian," Vhe'dn thought out loud. "He wasn't a good team player."

"I thought you said you didn't know him," Ando responded quietly.

"I didn't," Vhe'dn stated and looked up at him with a very small smile, "but you did, and I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes," Ando conceded.

"I like to _know_ things, Ando," Vhe'dn sighed, staring ahead into space. She realized she had trailed off and said. "I can definitely see him in you."

Ando looked down at her. "You couldn't have known enough about him to discern that."

"Like I said, I like to _know_ things," Vhe'dn shrugged. "I'm an educational person; I like research, and I have access to _a lot_ of databases." Vhe'dn thought of her gauntlet computer.

"Aren't teenagers supposed to be out causing social unrest and shirking school work?"

Vhe'dn ignored the jibe and smiled maliciously up at him. "Is that what you were like?"

Ando gave a hard, flat chuckle. "Hardly."

"I like to cause my obligated allotment of social unrest in unconventional ways," Vhe'dn grinned and rattled her stun cuffs. She was sure Ando would have rolled his eyes behind his visor.

"Like picking on poor, naive clone troopers?"

Vhe'dn was genuinely surprised by how much further Ando was deeming to play along. She tested it further.

"Well, the white armor isn't exactly stealthy. You're an easy target."

"Neither is the color plum," Ando pointed to the right side of her kama.

"_Touché_," Vhe'dn said, pretending to mull over his argument by bringing her hands up to stroke her chin; she stun cuffs were comical and out of place. "But really, plum blends in fine; it's not like it's fluorescent. It's dark. And what if I was on Felucia?"

"Well, white works fine in a cityscape," Ando finished.

Vhe'dn indicated the forest around them. "This isn't exactly a social metropolis."

"Big word, for a little twerp," Ando said. He brought a mocking hand up to the top of her head and pretended to measure her height. Vhe'dn could practically hear the smirk on his face.

"_Little twerp?"_ Vhe'dn blanched. She stamped her feet into the ground, immobile. Ando continued past her "Well, if we're just going to resort to _name calling_."

Ando stopped and turned, leaning more on his left leg than his right, holding both hands up in a mock 'I surrender' position. It was startlingly casual and unmilitaristic, and Vhe'dn wondered where it had come from.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to upset you. I understand you're going through an emotional age in your life."

Vhe'dn stared at him curiously.

"You're making fun of me," she said slowly.

"Maybe," there was suppressed humor in his voice.

A slow smile spread across Vhe'dn's face, and she walked up to him. He turned as she approached and fell into step.

"Just returning the favor," he said.

"I was asking for it," Vhe'dn murmured.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The terrain had begun to change. The air had gotten slightly warmer and small ground vegetation had begun to pop up. The ground was darker, looser, and the trees had gotten progressively thicker, the leaves beginning to take on a sickly yellow-green color, as opposed to orange and brown. It was a welcome change to the completely barren woods that was not far behind.

But now it was night, and it was cold again. Vhe'dn watched her breath puff into clouds in front of her eyes. She yawned, then returned to scowling.

"They only reason I'm going along with this is because I need your supplies," Vhe'dn grumbled.

She stared across from where she was sitting cuffed to a tree, trying to make out Ando's shape in the dark. All she could see was the reflection where the weak moonlight glinted off his t-visor and plastoid plates in places. She was aware of him leaning against a similar tree, trying to get some rest. He seemed bored with her, as if he was already too accustomed to her moodiness to pay any attention anymore.

"So I've heard," Ando murmured lazily. Vhe'dn almost envied him the ability to fall asleep so quickly.

The boredom was all-consuming. Vhe'dn cursed her impatience and thought of Bez, her friend and one of the Mandalorians who had accompanied her on this mission; Bez was always so calm and willing to wait. Her husband, Cajul, was probably butting heads with her right now over what to do about her capture.

Vhe'dn groaned loudly.

"Do you never _shut up?"_ Ando demanded, clearly frustrated. "You said you were worried about carnivores, so why are you announcing our presence to every one of them?"

"Well, it'll be _your fault_ you'll have to die defending your damsel because you chained her to a _tree!_" Vhe'dn didn't actually consider herself a damsel in any terms. "They obviously didn't teach you anything about treating ladies in that fancy training facility."

"Sure they did," Ando said, "but those only applied to militants and civilians. You're no lady; you're a prisoner. And _you'll_ regret it when you find out the hard way that I won't stick around to rescue you," Ando muttered, settling down against the tree, legs splayed out in front of him; again, something completely unmilitaristic that left Vhe'dn baffled.

Vhe'dn's mouth hung open a few centimeters. She consciously closed it.

"You've proven to be quite a burden so far," Ando continued.

"I wouldn't be such a burden if you actually took advantage of my expertise and let me ping for comm signals; I assure you, the computer in that gauntlet of mine is far more sophisticated than your Republic tech," Vhe'dn replied, decidedly calm.

Ando _'ffffed'_ in mock amusement.

"_Expertise?_ You're just a kid."

Vhe'dn had a hunch that Ando was purposely trying to push her buttons, because no soldier would have underestimated a Mandalorian, no matter what species or age. She decided to seize an opportunity.

"Were you as competent at my age?"

Ando gave that obnoxious single syllable laugh again.

"More than competent," he chuckled. He oozed boastfulness, but Vhe'dn ignored the urge to get up and slap him for it; she couldn't, had she wanted to, anyway. She just pegged it on his elitist mentality; he was an ARC, and they were the least common and highest trained men in the Republic army. Formidable, surely.

Vhe'dn just looked curiously at him, even though she could hardly make out the planes of his helmet. He very well could have seen her, so she counted on it.

"Enlighten me, then; what was life on Kamino like?"

"Collecting information for the Separatists, are we?"

Vhe'dn growled, frustrated.

"I don't think you really understand our business together, Ando," she sang. "_Part-ners_. Mutual coalescence of resources for a common survival."

"What are you, starting a government?" Ando mocked.

Vhe'dn scowled. "Equals. Allies."

Ando pushed himself up straighter, or at least, that was what Vhe'dn thought she saw.

"_Allies?_" Ando laughed. "Since when were the Republic and the Separatists _allies?_"

"I'm not a kriffing Separatist!" Vhe'dn yelled. "For being Fett's flesh and blood, you sure don't know much about Mandalorians! Or maybe you just inherited his stubbornness; _that_ seems apparent. Is the whole army like you?"

"To a point. I've been told ARCs are a species of their own."

"Why aren't you angry?" Vhe'dn burst. She was frustrated, lonely, and tired, she knew, but she couldn't help but pursue understanding. Why was she so surprised and angry that he didn't trust her, wouldn't talk to her? She _was_ the enemy. It was how any smart soldier would act, so why was it so... disheartening? Did she want him to like her?

Yes, she realized. Vhe'dn fell silent. Ando said nothing.

"I'm seeing this one through, Ando," she finally said, very quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. "My contract is up anyways, and I don't especially like war and deaths as it is. I'm just trying to make it off this planet alive. I made a deal with you, Ando, and I won't go back on it. I'm not going to kill you. My time with the Separatists is done. Coming here was a mistake. I was expecting mindless meatbags, not..." she looked at him very hard, "...people."

Ando still said nothing. He didn't even shift, and Vhe'dn had a hard time making out the shape that was him. She was suddenly cold, despite the heat systems in her armor.

"How does the Republic condone using a slave army?" she breathed.

"I'm not a slave," Ando said coldly.

"Really?" Vhe'dn laughed harshly. "Why'd you join the army, then?"

Ando was silent.

"Why do you fight for them, Ando?" Vhe'dn prodded. "Why do you fight for a government that uses you for cannon fodder, just because it suits their best interests? All the Separatists are are people looking for a different freedom, a chance to escape corruption and stagnancy. For all you know, it could end up better than the Republic for this galaxy. Maybe _they'd_ treat you right, if you were to join them. Have you ever thought of it?"

Ando shot up, and for a moment Vhe'dn feared he was actually going to lash out at her. He didn't, of course; that was foolish.

"I don't need to listen to your ideas of a better future, _Mandalorian,_" Ando seethed, pointing a threatening finger down at her.

Vhe'dn didn't back down. "It's _Vhe'dn_, and in the end, I don't really have to care _who_ wins; Mandalore will continue on, as it always does. I'm only saying, Ando, for your own benefit; if you could choose sides, would you ever consider joining the Separatists? If they promised you your freedom?"

"_No."_

"Really?"

"Really."

"Why not?"

"Because-!" Ando burst. He stopped himself and flopped back down to the ground, breathing out a heavy sigh. "Because then I'd just be shooting at my brothers."

_Ah..._

"What about neutral territory, then?" Vhe'dn started slowly. Oh, this was tepid ground, now. What was she getting herself into? "Like... Mandalorian space?"

Ando audibly stilled. "_What?"_

"What if you were to go someplace neutral? The Mandalorians. It's in your blood, if there ever was a Mandalorian blood, and they'd accept you in a heartbeat. You'd be your own boss then. Let the rest of the galaxy eat itself." What was she _doing?_ She was never this impulsive.

"Are you suggesting I _desert?_" Ando's tone was ice.

"How can you desert if you never joined?"

"What about drafts? Is that any different?"

"Yes. Very. People who are drafted have benefits. They're real people. You... are you even a citizen? What happens to you after the war is ended? Do you know?" Vhe'dn knew she wanted to know. She was so close to the information she sought.

Ando seemed to be struggling to come up with an answer.

"The GAR is the best life I could ever have hoped to attain," he said finally, very clearly and harshly, as if to leave no question as to if he really meant what he was saying or not. "I have the luxury of _surety_, and that's not something most beings ever get to have. I'm the _best_. No question."

"Truly?" Vhe'dn asked, feeling her heart sink. He was so brainwashed... she hoped it wasn't hardwired.

Ando laid down and rolled away from her. "I'm tired. Stop. Talking."

Vhe'dn scowled, but it quickly left her face, instead being replaced by an odd, affectionate sadness.

_I can pity you, Ando._ she thought. _I'll save you from yourself... just wait..._

After a very, very long time, Vhe'dn slept.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"What do you do for fun, Ando?"

"You mean you aren't having a blast right now?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Vhe'dn sneered at him, stepping over some fragile ferns. Ando had been fruitlessly all morning attempting to dissuade the girl from talking; she made him uneasy, and he knew it wasn't just because she was an enemy and they were alone. No, she somehow managed to pick away at every sore thought and doubt he hardly knew he had.

She could _read_ him, and not just the him that he portrayed on the surface. She seemed to know something about him that he didn't know himself. And she _knew_ she made him uneasy, and, to his dismay, seemed to take delight in it.

"But really, Ando, it's not a volatile question," she continued. She practically _bounced_ with an energy he couldn't understand. "I can't wean the Republic's next strike point from you telling me you like sabacc. Do you?"

"Never tried it," he answered, expressionless.

"You wouldn't like it," Vhe'dn chatted on. "Cards are infuriating."

"Mm," Ando grunted in response. He was sick of this walking routine, and he was sick of being disgruntled. Despite his protests, he found his mind wandering to Damper's enthusiastic, boastful stories of all the things he'd won off the game.

Ando felt Vhe'dn's mood shift suddenly, and was surprised by his perceptiveness. He looked down at her and was met with a scowl.

"You know, it wouldn't _kill_ you to humor me," she said.

Ando felt a guilt rise in him, which quickly frustrated him, because he wasn't aware of where it came from. He buried it.

"Who knows, it very well _might,_" he muttered.

Vhe'dn looked ready to beat him. "Would you give up on that whole 'I'm going to kill you' thing?" she growled. "I keep trying to pound it into your thick skull: I'm not going to turn on you. I can't seem to hardly get past that helmet, though."

"Can you blame me?"

"I can do anything I want with impunity," Vhe'dn drawled. "That's my right as a free Mandalorian."

Ando stopped and faced her, bristling. "Listen, sweetheart, there's only so much more of this that I can take."

"So much more of what?" Vhe'dn feigned ignorance.

"This Mandalorian propaganda and all the offhand comments about your excessive amounts of _freedom_," Ando said, trying to keep his frustration in check while letting the girl know he meant business. It obviously didn't work, because Vhe'dn just grinned.

"Jealous?" she asked, her voice a lilt.

"Of you?" he scoffed. "Hardly."

He started walking again. He heard Vhe'dn scramble to catch up behind him and he picked up his pace, knowing he could out stride her.

"Well if you'd just _talk_ to me I wouldn't give you so much _osik,_" Vhe'dn grumbled, jogging beside him to keep up. "You don't have to ignore me like-"

Something was wrong.

Ando stopped and threw out a hand to make Vhe'dn do the same, staring around at the trees. He felt Vhe'dn bump into his outstretched arm. He strained to hear, barely aware of how Vhe'dn had stopped talking.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

Ando gave a harsh, _"Sh!"_

To her benefit, Vhe'dn was silent.

_Everything_ was silent, and it had fallen suddenly so. The slight chattering, the quiet rustling of small creatures had just ended, as if everything in the woods was trying to hide. He heard Vhe'dn shift nervously behind him. His hands slowly and almost unconsciously found their way to his blasters. He drew them, a familiar, spiky feeling invading his stomach.

_"Oh!"_

Ando spun as a flock of avians startled to his left, taking off in a flurry of noise, right before Ando caught sight of what was coming, and his HUD finally sent him an onslaught of warnings.

"_Get down!"_ he screamed, throwing himself into Vhe'dn. He heard her cry out as he body slammed her to the ground, just as the huge creature soared over their heads in a snarling mass of claws and fur.

_"Oof!"_

They hit the ground hard, and Ando heard the creature land in front of them. _Move_. Adrenaline and training took over.

Ando had barely the time to push himself off of Vhe'dn and raise his blaster for a single shot. _Nexu_ was all that registered before it launched itself back at him, agile and _deadly_. It caught him square in the chest, snarling, sending him flying. A blaster flew from his hand. He screamed as he was crushed to the ground, winded, meters from where he had moments ago been laying. He flailed as he was blinded by the mass of fur atop him, trying to fire off shots with his remaining pistol. He was yelling; or maybe it was Vhe'dn?

He was batted hard by the nexu's claws, and his armor make a horrible screeching sound as it attempted to resist it. _Jaws_. He rolled just enough to avoid being devoured and buried a few shots into the nexu's flesh. It screamed and hit him again; he felt his other blaster leave his hand. He was trapped.

_Fierfek, this isn't how it's suppose to be..._

_"Eat laser, dirty chakaar!"_

The nexu suddenly arched, screaming, and leapt off him. Ando rolled and scrambled to his feet. He forced air to move through his lungs.

_Vhe'dn._

She had picked up his fallen blaster and was proceeding to bury a whole charge into the nexu, now bounding at her. Ando spun, frantically searching for it's twin. _There_. He sprinted and snatched it up, rounding in time to see the nexu overtake the young Mandalorian, sending her screaming angrily, sprawling to the ground. Ando's stomach lurched as he raised the blaster to fire at the creature, and he felt bile rise in his throat as the familiar guilt returned. _Fierfek,_ he shouldn't have cuffed her...

The nexu rounded on him again, frothing in it's anger and pain. He kept firing, and it kept coming.

"Just _die!"_ he yelled as he was sent once again tumbling to the ground to avoid it. The nexu turned once more and Ando could see that he wasn't going to be able to get his blaster around in time before it was on him.

_What a waste..._

He braced as the nexu pounced and was shocked as it was sent yelping, tumbling to the ground in front of him in a heap. He watched as four more blaster shots were buried into it from behind him. It whined once, then stopped movement all together, dead. Ando scrambled back from it, heart pounding in his ears. He got to his feet and turned.

His sight fell on Vhe'dn. She was standing, meters from him, arms raised holding his pistol two handed. It was aimed down at the dead nexu. She was breathing heavily, looking scarily feral.

"Play dead," she said, all ice. "_Forever."_

A new nervousness rose in Ando's gut, and his grip tightened on his own weapon.

But when Vhe'dn finally looked at him, her aim hesitated and all he saw was a scared kid looking back at him. She looked exhausted, but she was_ alive_. They both were. Instead of turning the pistol on him, Vhe'dn just let her arms fall limply in front of her, letting out a heavy breath. Ando took a few cautious steps toward her.

"You saved me," he said slowly, forcing his voice not to shake. It instead came out with an unintended huskiness.

Vhe'dn just gave a small, shaky laugh.

"Just returning the favor," she said. "You okay?"

"Yes."

He kept his distance, still very aware of the pistol she held. Vhe'dn gave him a curious look, then seemed to clue into his wariness. She looked down at the weapon in her cuffed hands as if just realizing how she could use it, and for a moment, Ando feared she would. But, she just reluctantly dropped it to the ground in front of her. She looked back up at him, calm.

Ando let out the breath he was holding and moved for her. He stilled suddenly, feeling his stomach chill. Vhe'dn narrowed her eyes in question.

"What?" she asked.

_"Vhe'dn..."_ was all he said, and pointed at her. _Ah, fierfek, no..._

Vhe'dn looked thoroughly confused, then something dawned on her face. She reached up to the side of her neck, then drew her hand away to stare at the blood there. She looked up at him, pale faced.

_"Oh,"_ she murmured feebly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"You, m'dear, are one lucky _di'kut_," Ando sighed.

Vhe'dn blanched, and gave a guilty grin. "_Ori'jare'la_, eh?"

Ando looked up from cleaning the cut on Vhe'dn's neck and met her eyes. "Hm?"

"It means I was asking for it, stupidly unaware of danger," Vhe'dn explained.

"Ah," Ando responded, looking back to his work. "Then 'yes.' " He was knelt on the ground in front of her. In an odd way, playing medic soothed him; he was good at it. It was routine.

At least, it was soothing when the wound he was treating was small and fleeting. Ando swabbed the cut on Vhe'dn's neck and watched the blood bead and appear again almost instantly. It looked nasty from a distance, but in the scheme of things, it was really just a scratch intent on making a mess. He had very little bacta left, so he just pressed the cloth down on the wound and fumbled for bandages. Vhe'dn winced.

He paused. "Hurt?"

"Stings a bit," Vhe'dn hissed, "but I'll get over it."

"Good," Ando said, and drew out the bandages. He secured them over the cut as deftly as he could, knowing it probably hurt more than he gave it credit for. His fingers brushed the skin of Vhe'dn's neck as he drew away, startlingly smooth, and she shuddered. In the relatively cold air, goose bumps quickly erupted over her skin. She reached up to inspect his work.

"You're good at that," Vhe'dn approved.

Ando offered her her wrap and she snatched it gratefully from his hands. He watched her struggle to try to drape it over her shoulders for a few moments, her hands still cuffed together. That same guilt that seemed to be becoming increasingly more common rose up in him again. Ando surprised himself by reaching out and taking Vhe'dn's hands. She stopped struggling and gave him a curious look.

"What?" she asked.

Hardly thinking, Ando reached to his belt, then brought his hands back to the cuffs. Slowly, he took them off. Vhe'dn stared at him, then down at her hands, then back at him. Her hair was all askew on top from the toss with the nexu, and her nose was a bright red from the cold. She was a mess, but somehow Ando managed to see past that. He found her distractingly _pretty_, he noted with distress. Then Vhe'dn smiled brightly at him and it turned to alarm.

"What's with the change of heart?" she inquired.

Ando found himself struggling over words. He'd never felt more incompetent, and it was infuriating. He wished he were wearing his helmet. He recovered with a beat, trying just to treat the situation how he would around Damper.

"Well, like you said; I don't want my damsel getting offed. It's bad for my rep," Ando said, emphasizing showiness. "Besides, I don't need you to keep slowing me down."

Vhe'dn feigned flattery by placing limp fingers over her chest, harshly offset by the armor she wore, then reached forward for him. Ando jerked his head back, but he had nowhere to go, and Vhe'dn thrust her fingers into his hair, scrubbing like she would to a child's.

"_Aw..."_ she cooed, a warm smile on her face, "he _does_ care."

Ando grimaced as he rocked back on his ankles, smoothing his hair. Vhe'dn laughed softly, and he found he didn't dislike it.

"Don't worry," Vhe'dn said, her voice sounding richer with her laughter. "It wasn't the bloody glove." She waggled the fingers of her opposite hand at him.

"Now don't go pushing your luck, sweetheart," Ando recovered. He straightened and stood, sacrificing a little water to wash Vhe'dn's blood off his hands. For some reason, it struck him as eerie. "I still don't trust you."

Vhe'dn stood after him, throwing her wrap around her shoulders. She brought her hands up in mock surrender.

"I know, but we're making progress," Vhe'dn held out her gloved hand for some water, and she scrubbed it off with the cloth Ando had used on her neck.

Vhe'dn put her freed hands on her hips.

"You seem to be in a good mood now that I've been hurt," Vhe'dn teased.

Ando allowed himself a small smirk as he pulled his gloves on.

"Maybe I'm just hoping you'll be quiet now, since you've seen I was _right_," he said.

"Sounds like _guilt_, more like."

"Try 'adrenaline high.' "

"Right."

"You really _were_ lucky," Ando said earnestly, feeling he was losing control of the other conversation.

"So were you, that you dropped that blaster right away," Vhe'dn commented. "Some might say it had something to do with the force."

Ando paused. "I thought Mandalorians had some big jedi-grudge."

"Generally," Vhe'dn sighed. "But you can't refute the fact that the force can blow a hole in a wall anymore than you can pretend you _didn't_ just get shot in the head with a blaster bolt." Vhe'dn laughed. "Naw, the force is real. The jedi just take things far to spiritually, when it's really a very literal thing."

Ando raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "And you know the force better than the jedi, right?"

"I'm just giving you my view on the whole thing from reports I've read. Official, _scientific_ studies. Psychology records," Vhe'dn explained.

Ando gave her a curious look.

"Why were you reading _that?"_ he asked.

"I like to_ know_ things," was Vhe'dn's rote response.

Ando was baffled. He had never met a non-clone who he was aware of who had been exposed to such raw information. It suddenly made him nervous to consider just how much knowledge the girl had attained, and where she had gotten it from. Ando was used to ignorance or spirituality. Either he was surrounded by ignorant civilians, or jedi who didn't understand the significance of surety and _fact._

Vhe'dn seemed to understand, though. Ando wondered if the person she portrayed on the surface really was the extent of who she was, or if it was an elaborate guise.

He buried the thought for a different time. Ando gestured two handed for Vhe'dn to walk past him. "Shall we?"

Vhe'dn gave him a large, tempered smile and sauntered past him. He found himself watching her go. He shook his head clear and stooped to snatch up his helmet.

Maybe he _was_ being a bit hard on her. Or, from a different perspective, maybe it would be _easier_ on _him_ if he humored her enough to talk about at least the harmless subjects.

The thought of small talk with the girl terrified him, frankly. He had no place to start, and no training to fall back on. Ando wondered if they made records on talking to females. Damper would have been so much better at this.

_Don't over think it_. Ando shifted his grip on his helmet, tucked under his arm.

He caught up to Vhe'dn and found himself comparing her to Castilla, the only other significant female in his lifetime that he could recall who wasn't a Kaminoan. He decided the only thing they had much in common was that they were just that: female. They were so starkly different from each other that Ando's heart sunk with the impossible task before him. There was hardly a correlation in their behaviors.

There wasn't a correlation in _anything_. Castilla was Nautolan, for one, and she had been tall; she would have dwarfed Vhe'dn.

"Are you jealous of the jedi, Ando?" Vhe'dn wondered out loud.

It was a difficult question. Ando had never really considered it, because holding the question seemed too close to insubordination.

"I'm... not sure," was his response.

Vhe'dn was rubbing her wrists.

"Really?" she asked.

Ando reconsidered, then decided to try a tactic that he had picked up from Vhe'dn.

"Are you?" he asked her.

Vhe'dn just seemed satisfied.

"Am I jealous of how cloistered they are? Am I jealous of all their ridiculous protocol? Am I jealous that they don't have the right to love or hate as they see fit?" Vhe'dn calmed. "No. No I'm not. Though it might be handy to be able to float stuff around so you don't have to get up."

Vhe'dn continued softly, "I want to be able to feel what I want to feel." She looked up at him. "You understand, right?"

Ando suddenly wondered if he did. He felt scrutinized. Vhe'dn seemed to pick up on his hesitation.

"I mean, if I want to be angry, I want to be angry. If someone dies, I want to cry. If I love someone, I'd want to tell the galaxy. I wouldn't let anyone tell me I couldn't feel," Vhe'dn tumbled on, then suddenly grew quiet. "It's only human to feel, right?"

Ando stared down at her with a sort of wonder, trying so hard to understand her.

"Yes," he said softly.

As he said it, a small smile touched Vhe'dn's lips, but it was almost as if it was a little bit sad. Her eyes changed as she looked up at him. It was that same look that Castilla would always give him, but that he never understood.

Maybe they were more alike than he thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

The change in Ando's mood was almost tangible, and Vhe'dn didn't know whether to be grateful or disdainful.

She decided on grateful and ignored the part of her that loved to exact revenge. She also decided that nothing could have gone more_ right_ than getting nearly mauled by a nexu; it had done wonders for camaraderie. Ando's helmet bounced slightly as he walked where it was clipped to his belt. It was a simple thing, but Vhe'dn took it as a sign of Ando's relative openness. Leaving it off was a courtesy he wouldn't have given her had she not bled all over him.

Vhe'dn found herself slyly observing things about his face. He _was_ fascinating. Vhe'dn didn't know enough about the rest of the clones in the army, but if they were anything like Ando, the Kaminoans were miracle workers, in every sense of the word. He was like an elaborate droid, but the thing that made him so amazing was that he _wasn't_ a droid at all. He was a functioning human being with real emotions, real distrusts, real biases, real_ flesh_. A stubble had started to appear all over Ando's cheeks and jaw line.

Vhe'dn felt a pain in her chest. In a way, the humanity of him was heartbreaking. Ando was effectively a slave, and a slave in his mind, no less. Who'd ever been in charge of his training had conditioned him so thoroughly as to disillusion him from _something_. Vhe'dn had faith that Ando knew how he was being used, but he obviously had been told to be okay with it. Well, Vhe'dn wasn't. It was disgusting. The _Republic_ was sending thousands of young men, young slaves, to die defending a government that they weren't even a part of. What was the Republic even fighting for?

Vhe'dn shook the thoughts from her head. They soured her mood, and she didn't want to poison Ando's. She brought her hand up and found herself unconsciously fingering the bandage on her neck.

"Something wrong?"

Vhe'dn looked up and met Ando's gaze. She could have sworn she saw some sort of objective concern in his eyes. The lines of his face were harsh, but not... unattractive.

"Oh," she said, bringing her hand down. "No."

"You sure?"

My, ARCs were a curious sort. Truly bipolar. Vhe'dn laughed to herself.

Ando fixed her with a confused look. "What's funny?"

"You," Vhe'dn giggled. She didn't honestly know what she found so funny. "You understand humor?" she prodded.

Ando scowled. "I swear, if you keep that up, I'm going to-"

"-what, keep fixing me with those nasty looks?" Vhe'dn finished for him. "What did I do to earn this besides trying to shove a stun stick up under that helmet of yours?"

And Ando laughed, an actual, real laugh. It was nothing loud or prolonged, just a short, simple noise that put an honest grin on his face, almost as if he was laughing at his own expense. It transformed him, and for a moment he didn't look at all like a slave soldier; he looked like any other young man you'd run into on Coruscant. Vhe'dn was startled.

"You're impossible," Ando said to the air in front of him, that promise of a smile still lingering on his face.

Vhe'dn didn't know exactly what to say in response.

Ando spared her by looking back down at her with that odd expression and continuing. "Seriously, do you just stay up at night thinking of new and amazing ways to annoy me?"

Vhe'dn recovered.

"_Me?_" she exclaimed. She scoffed. "Try dealing with _you_."

"_Me?"_ Ando mimed, giving her a confused, innocent expression. It wasn't put on, she noted. My, he was naive. "What did_ I_ do?"

"Well, for one, you're so _ornery_; you can hardly take a joke, and you never relax, and your mood is so bad I swear it could be contagious," Vhe'dn listed, knowing she was skating on a thin line.

"You hardly know me!" Ando burst, indignant.

"I think I've got a pretty good picture," Vhe'dn mumbled.

"That's not me at all," Ando grumbled.

Vhe'dn smirked at him. "Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove that you're not such a stiff," she challenged.

"I don't have to prove anything to you," Ando parried.

"Of course you don't _have to_..." Vhe'dn began.

Ando waited a few moments. "But?" he asked.

"_But_," Vhe'dn continued, "you're kind of stuck with me for now, so you might as well indulge me. And denying my request would just confirm how much of a reg-book you are."

Ando bristled, and Vhe'dn smiled, knowing he was tempted to prove her wrong.

"You'll just have to take my word for it, sweetheart," he muttered, and picked up his pace. Vhe'dn quickly fell behind.

"Don't go using your superior height to avoid this, Ando," Vhe'dn teased, jogging to keep up with him.

"Is it working?" he asked, not looking down at her.

"No."

"Well, you'll tire eventually."

"Ando!"

Ando stopped and faced her.

"I think I am," he said.

Vhe'dn looked up at him curiously. "Am what?"

"A little bit envious of the jedi," Ando continued, as if the conversation had been taking place seconds before. The way his thought process jumped around reminded Vhe'dn of a child sometimes. She just stared at him, unsure of what to say; he kept catching her flat-footed.

"I'm suppose to be the best soldier the galaxy has to give," Ando sounded a bit winded, "but all the talk about the jedi generals couldn't have prepared me for what they were really like. Things come easy to them. They're better than us."

"Maybe," Vhe'dn added. "But if you take the force away from the jedi, what do they have left? Everything they rely on or learn is put through the force. It's like a sixth sense that they come to incorporate into all their other senses. If they lost it, they wouldn't know how to work the other five without it. So who's truly the stronger one?"

Ando seemed to ponder her statement.

"The envy is still there, though," he said finally. "Maybe I'm just not sure what it is I'm truly envious of."

_Oh, Ando..._ Vhe'dn sighed. _If only you knew..._


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Ando had to admit, he was suddenly finding Vhe'dn far easier to deal with, and even found himself beginning to _enjoy_ her company, though he wasn't quite ready to admit it yet. She had an energy about her.

"D'you get those alarms set up?" he called to her as she pushed her way through some bushes; night was quickly approaching, and the forest had almost completely filled in. The trees and thick bushes sported rich green and purple leaves.

"What's up with this moon's terrain? It changes every two hours of walking," Vhe'dn observed loudly, ignoring his question. She walked up to him and he raised his eyebrows at her.

Vhe'dn grimaced. "Yeah, I set them," she sighed. "It's about the only tech I've been able to touch in thirty hours; trust me, I set them up with _relish."_

Vhe'dn flopped down to the ground with an exaggerated exhalation. Ando stared at her, curious. She was tired, but she was tough. She hadn't hardly complained about the almost impossible pace they had been keeping all day, and she hadn't mentioned the cut on her neck since it had happened. Her mood was saying a lot for almost being devoured by a nexu.

Ando reached around his shoulder to release his pack, kneeling to the ground. He opened it, rummaged around, and pulled out the girl's gauntlet covered in wound wires and connector ports. He looked up and met Vhe'dn's intense stare. He looked back to the gauntlet, spun it once, catching it on his fingertips.

"Here," he said, tossing her the gauntlet. Vhe'dn caught it, looking surprised. "Ping for signals."

Vhe'dn stared down at the gauntlet in her hand with a sort of reverence. Finally, she looked up at him with a bright smile.

"I love you," she laughed, and shimmied backwards to prop herself up against a tree, fastening the gauntlet around her left arm. Ando stared, fascinated, as she flipped open the computer and a flurry of blue holos projected about it, information scrolling past her eyes. Vhe'dn hit a few commands and the holos shifted. She sighed contentedly, tapping the screen. It reminded Ando of a helmetless HUD. He moved and sat down across from her.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Searching for connection signals..." Vhe'dn murmured, eyes darting around the information. She glanced at him. "There are none."

"Can you check later?"

"If you let me keep it, it'll let me know if it picks anything up. Here," Vhe'dn shifted over to sit next to him, and Ando leaned over to see what she was indicating. "See? It sees the AD tower that shot us down," she tapped the screen once and the map scrolled out, displaying directions and pinpoints. "We're still going the right way."

Ando glanced at Vhe'dn's face. It was lit up blue by the display, amplified by the dying light. She stared at the screen, looking very intense. She was desperately attached to the thing. It was her element, her specialization. Ando wondered how good she was.

"Here," Vhe'dn said again, and tapped a holo control with her fingertip. She grinned at him before turning back to the screen, music beginning to play quietly as she whipped through a dozen new commands. Ando observed that the song was the same one Vhe'dn had been singing the previous day. He drew away slightly.

"And... this." Holo pictures began to spring up, eerily alive, full of smiling people. Ando watched, enthralled.

"That's my sister," Vhe'dn said, poking a holo.

Ando stared. "It's a Twi'lek."

"_She's_ adopted."

"Ah."

A new holo appeared, but Vhe'dn quickly whipped past it.

"Wait," Ando said, bringing a hand up. "Go back."

Vhe'dn looked at him. "Why?"

"Because?"

Vhe'dn avoided it. "It's nothing."

Ando leaned back, supported by his arms bracing behind him.

"You know, I'm not going to burst into tears if you mention your parents," he murmured.

Vhe'dn looked guilty. Slowly, she tapped a control. The picture of who Ando correctly assumed were her parents formed back up.

They looked happy, youthful. It was a side of life that Ando understood little of. He pinpointed Vhe'dn's grin on her father almost instantly, though she had inherited her mother's tough stare and height, he observed. He took it all in in an instant. Most teenaged near humans were still under the direct care of their parents, he knew.

"Where are they?" he asked, his trail of thought winding it's way to the question.

"Dad's somewhere on the rim smuggling slaves to freedom," Vhe'dn sighed.

Ando waited. "And your mother?"

"Mom's dead," Vhe'dn stated, expressionless.

"I'm... sorry," Ando stumbled over what to say. He had no idea what it was like to _have _a mother, let alone lose one.

"What, did you kill her?" Vhe'dn looked at him and laughed. "Then don't apologize. There's no need."

Ando felt his cheeks heat up. _You_ di'kut, _you walked right into that one. Way to be tactful._

A new picture appeared as if on a timer system. They both glanced back at it and Ando saw Vhe'dn's expression darken with the image. She tapped a button.

"A brother?" Ando asked, hoping to change the topic.

"He's no one," Vhe'dn stated coldly. Ando knew better than to push the point. He noted Vhe'dn appeared to have deleted the image. She slapped the computer shut and everything fell dark. Vhe'dn turned her head to look at him, face very close to his.

"What do you want more than anything else, Ando?" she asked him. Ando rocked back slightly, supporting more of his weight on his arms, pondering.

"I want to be able to count on someone for once, like they can count on me," Vhe'dn continued, answering her own question, staring off ahead, "instead of being someone else's crutch." She sounded wistful.

Ando pitied her. He never had to question whether or not his men had his back. Was she referring to the Mandalorians? For some reason, he doubted it. He found himself casually observing the row of silver studs lining Vhe'dn's ear. Damper had almost convinced him to pierce his ear, Ando remembered.

"What about you?" Vhe'dn asked, turning to him again. Ando exhaled heavily.

"To eat at a fancy restaurant," he stated.

Vhe'dn laughed. "What?"

"With really big portions," he indicated.

Vhe'dn laughed again, and Ando found that he was beginning to smile, too.

"You know, I might just have to change my answer, because that sounds good right now," Vhe'dn laughed. "I'm sick of those flimsi cubes you call food."

Ando laughed quietly. "I'll look for other food tomorrow. If we're lucky, we'll find something."

Vhe'dn smacked her forehead, then winced and shook her hand from it's connection with her cranial horns.

"The nexu!" she cried. "Why didn't we take any of the meat?"

Ando grimaced. "Maybe because you were too busy making me think you were_ dying._

"Well, why not after, then?"

"It was sick," Ando explained. "When it had me pinned, it had spores all over its fur. Trust me, it was dead already."

"Oh," Vhe'dn looked disappointed, and rapped on her stomach plate with her knuckles.

Ando stood and paced to his own corner of the camp, leaving Vhe'dn to resume work on her gauntlet. As he settled, he realized just how much he ached from the nexu; he had tensed up very quickly during the fight. He was drained.

Ando shook awake suddenly in a violent jerk. His sight fell on Vhe'dn, staring back at him, her face lit up blue.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he responded, rubbing his eyes and shifting upright. Had he been sleeping? Fierfek, he felt like an idiot. He watched Vhe'dn warily, wishing she would sleep so he could.

As he sat, he could feel himself dozing, and finally relented to the fact that he couldn't fight it. He pulled a blaster from it's holster and concentrated on spinning it lazily around his finger.

At least, it was lazy for _him._

"Could you teach me?"

Ando's hand clamped down on the butt of the blaster, ending his performance. He looked up. Vhe'dn had an eager expression on her face, and she closed the top of her gauntlet. Ando raised an eyebrow at her, but was unsure as to if she could see it from that distance in the growing darkness.

"You mean you've never thought to learn it before?" he questioned.

"Bravado isn't really my style," Vhe'dn shrugged.

Ando rolled the idea over in his mind, then moved to stand. Vhe'dn hopped up and approached him.

"It's more of a technique, really. Not a skill," Ando said, flourishing it slightly. He pulled the clip from the blaster and pocketed it. Vhe'dn didn't protest.

"Hold it like this," Ando showed her his grip and Vhe'dn watched intently. "Then go like this," he flipped it down, "then flip it back and spin," he turned the blaster the opposite direction, spinning it slowly so Vhe'dn could observe. "Move your wrist forward and back like this to start."

Ando held the blaster out to her. Vhe'dn took it and began to experiment.

"No, more like this," Ando said, taking her fingers, gently moving them. She tried again. Ando chuckled.

Vhe'dn scowled at him. "Oh, I'm sure it's _hilarious_ when this is probably all you do in your spare time," she teased.

"Actually, I spend most of my time frozen in a tank," Ando mentioned offhandedly. The blaster tumbled to the ground. Ando went to snatch it up.

"You had it, why'd you let it go?" he smiled, straightening and holding the weapon out to her again.

Vhe'dn just stared up at him.

"Frozen in a tank?" she asked.

Ando paused, suddenly regretting the statement.

"Chill down," he explained shortly, "for when I'm not deployed."

Vhe'dn gaped. He was afraid she would start yelling again any second.

"Chill down?" she just breathed, looking appalled. "They put you in a _stasis?"_

"Please don't start yelling again," Ando sighed, lowering the blaster.

Vhe'dn laughed a breathless, incredulous laugh.

"Don't yell?" she scoffed. "I'm about to explode!"

"Well don't aim it at me, then," Ando walked a few paces away, but quickly realized he had nowhere to go and nothing to do.

"No, it's..." he heard Vhe'dn stuttered behind him. She sighed. He turned to look at her. "I know it's not you. I'm not going to yell."

Vhe'dn smiled, a little breathless, then sobered.

"Thanks for my gauntlet back," she said quietly with a small smile, then turned and retreated to her impromptu corner of camp. She lounged.

Ando watched her quizzically, then settled back into his resting place. He found himself flourishing his blaster again, far more theatrically than before. He knew Vhe'dn was watching. Was he trying to impress her?

Yes, he was.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

_What was she doing?_

Vhe'dn could feel the moves. She could sense the shift. Oh, she was fond of him.

The initial twinge, the _almost_ ignorable first hints; Vhe'dn had felt it all before, but it still surprised her. She could still practically feel where he had touched her fingers through two layers of gloves.

_Ando_, she said in her mind. _You bastard._

This had gone way too far. _Why, why_, why, _Vhe'dn? Why haven't you learned?_ She seemed to be inexplicably drawn to vulnerable people, people she longed to help, that she _would_ help and then lose. Stupid infatuations that would come to haunt her. Vhe'dn growled. _You're too empathetic for your own good..._

Well, it wasn't going to happen this time. The ARC trooper was a foolish pursuit in so many ways that Vhe'dn's protesting logic centers practically threatened to pound her heart into submission. She rung her hands in a panic, then heard a rustling noise behind her and spun.

Ando pushed his way through the bushes, pulling his helmet off.

"This warmer weather is a relief," Ando remarked jovially. Vhe'dn ignored him.

"Find anything?" she questioned, sounding much more disgruntled than she had intended.

"Not yet," Ando sighed, swinging his arms around himself, stretching, "but I will."

He moved past her with that light, transforming smile on his face. It was pleasant, and Vhe'dn felt her frustration mounting. She hurried after him.

"Confidence is all well and good, if not _foolhardy_," Vhe'dn grumbled. "I never actually expected you to find any food in this forest. You're wasting your time."

"Well, you don't _have_ to eat any," Ando said distractedly, looking up at the trees.

"Well I don't _intend_ to, because there won't _be_ any," Vhe'dn scowled. Did he really deserve this? Probably not, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Just you wait."

His optimism was infuriating. Vhe'dn sighed, mentally kicking herself; she knew she had brought this on herself. It was her fault.

Ando paced under a tree and looked up. Vhe'dn paused, waiting. She watched as he leapt and grabbed a thick branch, hauling himself bodily up into the leaves, disappearing. It didn't look like it was an exertion in the slightest. In fact, he was almost _eager._

"Ando!" Vhe'dn called, staring straight up into the leaves. She couldn't see him and he didn't answer, but she could hear him rustling. "Ando, come on!"

He still didn't respond and Vhe'dn let out an exasperated noise.

"Fine!" she called, scowling. "I'm going on without you!"

Vhe'dn turned, intent on retreating, when Ando suddenly swung down straight in front of her face, hanging upside down from a branch, their noses almost touching. Vhe'dn let out a startled squeak and jumped back.

"Chill out, killjoy," Ando murmured, his voice a bur. He held out a fruit to her, very savvy. "Cheer up, will you?"

Vhe'dn was startled to silence, and she slowly reached out to take the fruit. Ando smiled, raising his eyebrows comically, then dropped to the ground, twisting to land on his feet. He continued on walking past her, munching happy on his own fruit. Vhe'dn watched him, mouth open a few centimeters. She shook herself and stared down at the fruit, analyzing the small flower still attached to the stem. She grimaced at herself and plucked it off, tossing it over her shoulder as she moved to follow him.

"Here," she said, holding the fruit out to him as she jogged up to his side.

Ando stopped for a moment, cheek full. He looked down at her, wide-eyed, and indicated the fruit she was offering him. "That one's yours."

"I already said I wouldn't be eating," Vhe'dn conceded. "It wouldn't be fair."

Ando smiled. "A gift, then."

He kept on walking. Vhe'dn realized her cheeks were red, and her anger had ebbed. It had been replaced by a casual fear, an inevitableness.

_Shab_, she thought.

**********

It had begun to rain.

Ando felt guilty donning his helmet to keep dry as he watched Vhe'dn sit, clearly disgruntled and extremely uncomfortable in the rain. She kept pushing loose hairs from her face, her fingers getting caught in the mess atop her head. Finally, she let out an aggravated growl and stood. She stomped over to him and Ando pushed himself to sit up straighter.

"Do you have a knife?" she questioned, very grumpily.

Ando narrowed his eyes at her. Vhe'dn scoffed.

"I'm not _asking_ for it, I just need you to cut something," she said impatiently.

"What?" Ando asked slowly.

Vhe'dn reached behind her head and grabbed the mass of braids in her fist. She grabbed it with both hands and indicated the space in between them. "Right there."

Ando stared. "Serious?"

"Very."

Slowly, almost lamentingly, Ando reached up to Vhe'dn's head. He ejected the knife from his gauntlet and pulled it through her hair. One by one, the braids released. Vhe'dn stared at her fist, satisfied.

"Thank you," she said, and began to move for the line of trees.

"Where are you going?" Ando asked her.

Vhe'dn didn't turn. "To bathe."

She pushed her way through the brush and disappeared. The small lake wasn't far, but it still made Ando nervous; he wasn't about to go looking for her, though.

Ando slumped, puzzled. He apparently couldn't do anything correctly. If he was disgruntled, Vhe'dn was unrelenting, and if he was tolerant, Vhe'dn was angry. His mind couldn't put anything together. It was like being constantly off balance. The feeling was unsettling and wildly unfamiliar.

It was a challenge; that was the only way that Ando could rationalize it. It was the only way he could understand.

**********

Vhe'dn gave up on the idea of bathing the moment she found the water to be so cold as for it to be uncomfortable to hardly dip her arm in up to the elbow.

She settled for splashing the icily refreshing water over her face, then leaned over the pool to dangle her now free hair into it. She growled, frustrated, then gave up and waded in. She hissed the whole way, finding it difficult to breathe when she finally submerged her shoulders. She dipped her head back.

As she grew numb, Vhe'dn began to calmly ponder her dilemma again. Would Ando come looking for her? She briefly considered what she would do, then dismissed the thought. No, Ando was a _gentleman_, Vhe'dn sighed, attempting to flex her fingers. She began to bounce back to shore. The air was far warmer than the water, despite the cold drizzle. She toweled off with the inside of her wrap, which was still surprisingly dry, and began to suit up. She dragged her fingers through her hair, having a moment of confusion when her fingers exited the tangle before she expected them to. She'd never had her hair that short.

Suppressing distressing thoughts about her partner, she trudged back to camp.

**********

Ando drowsily drifted back into consciousness as he grew aware that Vhe'dn had returned. She shuffled around, picking up pieces of her gear. She had her back to him, and Ando's sight fell on the Jaig tattoo on her shoulder blade, partially hidden by her tank before her jumpsuit was pulled over it and it vanished. Vhe'dn turned, looking over at him.

"You awake?" she asked, loud enough for him to hear, was he conscious.

"No," he replied. The side of Vhe'dn's mouth twitched up slightly.

"Well, good," she said, bending to snatch up her armored vest, pulling it over her head and shifting it into place. She moved to tie the sides.

"We should be at the AD tower by later tomorrow," Vhe'dn made small talk, trying to see what she was doing. Her still wet hair fell over her face, beginning to form dark, messy ringlets, he observed. Vhe'dn straightened.

"Ready for the action?" she asked him.

"_Anything_ to escape your haranguing me every waking moment," Ando teased. He paused. "But in fact, I was kind of getting used to it, and you let me down today."

Ando was flailing in the dark, he knew, and didn't honestly really know what he was searching for.

Vhe'dn looked torn, almost guilty.

"Just missing my folks, Ando," she murmured finally, not really to him. She shoved her gear into a pile with her boot and whipped her wrap over it. "You have a plan for when we get there?"

Ando considered.

"I'm making it up as I go," he said, shifting. He needed to assess the actual tower. "I don't know what I'm suppose to expect."

"Well, I don't expect it to be very heavily defended," Vhe'dn said, sitting. "It may even be unmanned, in which case I might be able to patch in directly and hail some ships."

"So much for supplies..."

"Like you said, making it up as I go. We'll have to wait to see what we're up against," Vhe'dn conceded.

_What we're up against_. Were they really _we?_ Was Vhe'dn really up against anything? If there were droids at the tower, it would be easiest for Vhe'dn to just turn him in and get on with things. Was he supposed to trust her word? _Would_ he, if she asked him to?

He didn't know.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"What do you _mean, 'A-14's missing?' "_ Sevets snarled, on the razor's edge of keeping his temper in check.

"Sir," the trooper implored, "he was on his way to deliver a Mandalorian hostage to you and never returned. We lost contact, and can assume the worse."

Sevets forced the cold ball of fear rising in his throat down to settle in his stomach. He closed his eyes, taking a shaky, calming breath, then opened them again.

"Where do you think he is now?" Sevets queried, very slowly. The noise of the battle began to ease away from his hearing.

The trooper was standing very rigid, as if expecting Sevet's wrath. "Sir, he flew over Beta Zone; he could be anywhere."

_Fierfek_, a jedi would have been useful; of all the battles...

"Sir?" the trooper questioned. "Would you like me to send a search party?"

Sevets let out a heavy breath.

"No," he said, expressionless. "Ando can take care of himself. We don't have enough supplies to spare any."

The trooper hesitated for a moment.

"Yes, sir," he finally said with a nod, and retreated from him.

Sevets turned and braced on the console in front of him.

_Stay alive, you idiot..._

**********

If it was going to happen, it would happen, and if it didn't, all the better; but Vhe'dn would deal with Ando if and when the time came. She wasn't going to work herself up into a frantic panic just because she may have developed another stupid crush. She'd let things take their course. Besides, Ando would soon be gone out of her life, right? Ando was too naïve and herself far too young for Ando to take any notice in her, and _she_ certainly wasn't going to say anything. She'd probably never have to face her developing feelings; and they _were_ feelings, she wasn't going to lie to herself _that_ much; but they were feelings that would come and go.

Right?

He did look good in that ghastly armor, though.

Vhe'dn tucked a curl behind her ear. She really needed to get a proper trim; this just let her hair tumble all over eyes if she turned her head too fast. She glanced over at Ando, walking off to the side of her.

"Where're you going to go after this?" Ando asked quietly, surprising her by speaking, and by the question.

"Um… I don't know. I suppose I might go try to find Dad."

Ando raised an eyebrow at her; he did that a lot.

"Is he lost?" his voice hinted at sarcasm.

Vhe'dn grimaced, stepping over a protruding root. "He's _always_ lost."

Ando gave a rueful, closed lipped smile.

"But fortunately, his ship's kind of his home, so technically, he's always right where he's suppose to be, too," Vhe'dn joked.

Ando looked over at her. "Do you live with him?"

"Naw," Vhe'dn dismissed. "I live on Mandalore with my grandparents; kinda."

"Kinda?"

"I live _with_ them, but they aren't really my guardians."

"Why not?"

Vhe'dn shrugged. "I don't need them to be. I can take care of myself."

Ando gave her a knowing look and said nothing, looking away.

Vhe'dn bristled. "What?"

Ando caved instantly.

"Come on, Vhe'dn," he accused. "Every kid wants parents to look after them. That's just your pride talking"

"Oh, and I suppose you'd know this."

"Maybe."

"Maybe definitely _not_."

"I'm not as dumb as I look, sweetheart."

"You had me fooled, honestly."

Ando gave her an _'oh please'_ sort of look.

"Really, Ando," Vhe'dn confirmed, "I'm good at it; taking care of myself, that is. I think it's easier that way, being the one to look out for everyone else."

"Sounds lonely."

"It can be. But I'm good at that, too."

Ando had gradually moved closer to her as they walked. Now he reached over with a small laugh and messed up her hair with a gloved hand. Vhe'dn protested loudly.

"What was that for?" she demanded, arms up in a defensive gesture.

"I'm slowly returning all the hell you put me through," Ando simpered. _Wayii_, that _voice…_

"Little late, don't you think?" Vhe'dn grumbled, relenting and pulling her hair into a pony in the back of her head. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to touch a woman's hair?"

"Well, I still have all my fingers, so…"

"Shut it."

Vhe'dn smoothed her hair.

"Where're _you_ going after this?" she returned.

Ando sobered. "Wherever I'm told to."

"Doesn't that get old?" Vhe'dn grimaced.

"No."

"Can I just say 'I'm not as dumb as I look, sweetheart' ?"

Ando scowled at her.

"_Touchy_…" Vhe'dn tutted.

"You think you're smart…"

"I _am_ smart."

Ando scoffed. For some reason, Vhe'dn felt a little twinge of hurt.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Shut yourself down just as soon as you start talking about the army."

"I don't do that," Ando said sharply.

"Yes, you _do_," Vhe'dn accused, flaring. "Why are you so afraid to talk about it?"

"I'm_ not_."

My, this was deteriorating quickly. Vhe'dn only hesitated for a moment, then let her emotions take over.

"Don't you ever question why you're doing this?" she begged. "Why you go where your sent and do what you're told, and don't get anything out of it other than the security of a meal that disappears just as soon as you're sent to a combat zone?"

They had stopped walking.

"Why you agree to everything and it doesn't even cross your mind that you can be a dissenter; it's human nature," Vhe'dn implored.

Ando wasn't happy, and she could see that clearly.

"No, what _you're_ talking about is treason," Ando accused.

"How can you be treasonous to a government you aren't even a citizen in?" Vhe'dn burst. "I'm trying to help you!"

"_No_," Ando snapped, "You _think_ you're trying to help me. Why do you meddle so much?"

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Avoiding me. Avoiding what I'm saying. Avoiding the fact that there's the possibility that I'm right."

Ando stared daggers at her.

"Ando, you're going to _die_ out here, and soon. Everything in your life is replaceable. You're replaceable, the pilot was replaceable, every piece that makes you and your life up is a expendable cog. The Republic churns you out like cannon fodder to trip up the droids so they don't reach Coruscant and the citizens can enjoy their ignorance just a little bit longer. They don't care if you live or die; no one you're fighting for cares."

"Oh, and you _do?"_ Ando asked with a harsh laugh.

"Yes!" Vhe'dn burst.

There was a beat, and for a moment, an odd expression flashed across Ando's face. Then, as soon at it was there, it was gone, and Vhe'dn watched Ando darken and close.

"_No_," Ando said icily. "You have no _idea_ what I fight for. You have no idea what it's like to be me, and grow up like I did, and do the things I've done."

"Ando..." Vhe'dn started.

"No," he interrupted her. "Is this what you wanted to hear? That I know I'm going to die a brutal death one day and no one's going to miss me or care? That I'll never make anything out of myself and spend my entire existence killing and destroying? That I'm just an insignificant speck that will be here and then be gone with nothing to continue living for me?"

Vhe'dn could feel her cheeks heating up. "Ando-"

"Well, you're welcome," Ando snapped. "You got what you wanted. So why don't you just live your life, and I'll live what's left of mine?"

It was like getting stabbed in the chest. Vhe'dn felt horrible, guilty, every negative emotion a being could feel. Ando began to walk away from her.

"Ando," she called after him, pleading. "Ando, I'm sorry!"

Ando turned once more, and she could tell he was fed up with her.

"No, Mandalorian, you're not. You've been wanting to chew me out for the past two days; all of that stuff in between was just killing time for you."

"It's not like that!" Vhe'dn pleaded.

Ando scoffed, then took a few steps toward her.

"Yes, it is," Ando had sobered, and his words came out as bitter and tired. "But look; despite our different lives, despite our choices, we're both right here right now,_ alive_. So how much did it really all matter?"

He turned back around, ending the exchange, retreating from her.

"You can call me 'Vhe!' " she called after him, hurt. Her voice quieted to a whisper, which Ando was too far away to hear. "My friends call me 'Vhe'..."

**********

Vhe'dn had remained silent for the rest of the walk, her pride dented. This had completely backfired on her. She'd underestimated Ando, which made her no better than anyone else. She felt like a fool.

As they stared at the AD tower from the cover of the trees, Ando simmered beside her.

"It's a base," Vhe'dn whispered, "not just a tower."

Ando pressed something on the side of his helmet.

"They've got battle droids..." he murmured. Vhe'dn watched them pad back and forth in front of the foyer.

"Okay, so it's not going to be as easy as I thought," Vhe'dn said, turning and bracing her back against the tree. She crouched, and Ando followed suit.

"So what's the plan?" Ando asked her.

"Well," she said, "I was thinking this: I'm a Mandalorian, so technically, I'm on their side. I cuff you and walk up there with a prisoner offering, and we just walk right in."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Ando said. "I agree with everything except for the part when you were _talking_."

"Ando, come on," Vhe'dn begged. "I'm _sorry_ about earlier, but let's be reasonable."

"This isn't about earlier," Ando snapped, "and I'm being more reasonable now than I have been this whole fiasco. I am _not_ going to let you cuff me and hand me over to the Seps."

"I won't be handing you over, I'll make sure to stick right by your side the whole time."

"Oh yeah, that'll make me feel safe."

"Well, what sort of plan do you have, then?" Vhe'dn bristled.

"I don't yet."

"Are you just going to run up there, guns blazing? Ando, we have to get_ into_ this place, not destroy it. It's almost all underground, look at it, the smoke won't even signal anything if we did."

Ando was silent, but Vhe'dn couldn't see what was going on behind his visor.

"Trust me? Just this once?" Vhe'dn asked.

Moments passed. Finally, Ando sighed.

"I'm going to die..." he moaned, pulling his pack out in front of him.

Vhe'dn smiled lightly. "No we won't. You'll see."

Ando pulled out a DC-15S, stun cuffs, and Vhe'dn's other gauntlet, putting his own pistols in their place. He stared at her, his nonverbal threat clearly portrayed even through a visor. Slowly, he handed her the items. Vhe'dn made sure to put on the gauntlet with as little relish as she could, then flicked something on the blaster, setting it on the ground beside her. She looked up at him.

"I'll try to spare you as much embarrassment as I can," she said. "Um... turn around."

Slowly, uncooperatively, Ando stood and turned, holding his wrists out behind him. Vhe'dn fumbled with the cuffs.

"Maybe you can just leave them unsecured," Ando muttered.

"And have you holding them perfectly concealed the whole time? Sorry, that's too much of a risk."

Ando cleared his throat, dignity taking a hit.

"Alright," Vhe'dn exhaled, bending to snatch up the blaster and to sling the pack over her shoulder.

"Oh," she said, and indicated to him with a finger to bend down. He hesitated, then complied, and Vhe'dn pulled the helmet off his head. She fastened it to her belt then stared up at Ando, who looked rueful and embarrassed, clawing at what little pride he had left. Vhe'dn pressed a button on her gauntlet. It lit up green.

"Okay," Vhe'dn said. "Um, I guess, let's just go."

"Right," Ando steeled himself.

They began to walk out into the clearing. The battle droids perked up immediately, holding there weapons at ready, and moving to meet them halfway.

"Halt!" the lead droid commanded. Vhe'dn watched the button on her gauntlet turn red.

Vhe'dn stopped, as did Ando, and she held the blaster to him.

"I've brought you a prisoner," Vhe'dn stated, her voice strong. "You really shouldn't be so sloppy about how you shoot a ship down."

"Hold your tongue, Mandalorian," the droid warbled. _Wayii_, these droids were stupid. The command droid checked something with another member.

"We'll take him now," the droid turned back to her. It addressed Ando. "You thought you were real tough, didn't you, _clone?"_

Ando growled. "Go f-"

"If you don't mind," Vhe'dn interrupted loudly, "I _am_ being paid for this by _your_ generals, and I haven't been able to replenish supplies in days to bring this scum to you."

Ando was gritting his teeth so hard beside her that Vhe'dn was afraid they'd shatter.

"Uh, yes, well..." the droid turned again to his comrades, then turned back to her. "Follow us, please."

"Thank you," Vhe'dn hissed.

Ando was getting edgy.

_We just need to get inside..._ Vhe'dn mentally pleaded for him to stay calm.

The door's situated on the ground began to slide open, and Vhe'dn followed the trail of droids down into the entrance of the base. She glanced at her gauntlet. Red. _Come on_...

The doors slid shut and the corridor was bathed in an uncomfortably false and claustrophobic light. The droids clacked along the floors, and Vhe'dn followed. There was a turn up ahead. As Vhe'dn stepped around it, her gauntlet flashed back to green. She waited for all the droids to come around the corner.

"Drop!" she yelled. She buried fire into the droid in front of her. Ando dropped to the ground, kicking out the legs from under two of them. Vhe'dn turned and blasted the two left standing stalled and confused, then brought the blaster around to finish off the ones on the floor. It was a matter of loud, chaotic seconds.

"Told you I'd come through," Vhe'dn said. Ando push himself back up and Vhe'dn moved to get the cuffs off of him.

"What if there are cameras?" he asked, rubbing his wrists and moving to take the pack off her back.

"There aren't," Vhe'dn said. "I checked."

"You'd better hope so."

"I know so."

Ando holstered his pistols and Vhe'dn handed him his helmet. He took it and rewarded her with just barely a twitch of a smile at the side of his lips.

"Come on," he said, pulling it over his head. "Time to make this a bad day for the Seps."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Vhe'dn pressed a series of keys on her gauntlet computer and slapped the top shut.

"All right," she said. "Let's go find a port."

She began to jog down the halls. Ando followed close behind, adjusting his holsters and shifting his mind into battle mode. He had his misgivings about Vhe'dn, but right now he was in an enemy base, and it was either _trust her_ or _don't_, and he'd already made his decision.

In an odd way, he was more comfortable here than he had been the entire trek with his impromptu companion.

"Here!" Vhe'dn stopped and dropped to one knee. She pulled a cord from her gauntlet and shoved it in the port. She flipped open her computer and a flurry of information began to scroll over the screen. She watched it intently, twisting the port back and forth. Ando observed, enthralled.

"Fancy," he commented.

Vhe'dn smiled, but didn't look away from her work.

"There," she said, and released. She poked at a screen control, and a hologram of the facility projected from her gauntlet. Ando crouched to inspect it.

"You're like a living astromech," Ando commended.

"I like to think so."

"It's a relatively small installation," Ando sobered, "but too big to be just a random AD tower. This is the thing that's been jamming the Republic's communications, I'm sure of it."

Vhe'dn gave him an intense look.

"The Mandalorian contract is up by now; they won't be in the line of fire. We could sabotage this station," she offered. "Finish your mission."

Ando nodded grimly, and excitement flooding his stomach and mouth. He could _end_ this stalemate.

"In that case," Ando said, "we'd better make our way to a control center."

Vhe'dn grimaced as she scrolled in on the map. "Great," she said, "let's just go and find the biggest concentration of droids in the whole facility."

"Don't you worry about the tinnies, sweetheart," Ando muttered. _Sweetheart_; where had he ever picked that up? "Leave them to me. You just concentrate on the systems."

"Can do. We going to be sneaky about this, or are we doing this the old fashioned way?"

"Which would you prefer?"

"Well, considering I'm helmet less and we're going to be outgunned, I'd prefer to be sneaky."

Ando tilted his head at her. "I thought Mandalorians were suppose to be brave."

Vhe'dn glared lazily at him. "Brave, yeah, foolhardy, no. I'm smart. I'll avoid a fight if I can; I know I'm not invincible."

"Touché. Check for a ventilation system."

"In a droid facility?"

"You don't know if there aren't any wets here."

Vhe'dn tapped a few controls and the hologram spun, highlighting a series of ducts.

Vhe'dn narrowed her eyes. "All right, so they do. This leads straight to the command center."

"Perfect."

"This place is crude," Vhe'dn remarked, flipping through holos. "They rushed this."

"That's probably a good thing," Ando commented.

"All right, so what are we doing?"

"We're getting into the ducts," Ando said, and stood.

Vhe'dn pressed a key and then pulled the cord out of the port. She followed after him.

"It should be right beneath us," Vhe'dn told him.

Ando glanced around at the floor, paced over to a panel and began to pull at it. He ejected his blade and wrenched it under the seam, levering it loose. Vhe'dn hovered over him, and he shifted the floor panel to the side. He flipped on his helmet spot lamp and shined it down into the hole.

"After you," Vhe'dn drawled.

Ando took a breath, then dropped in. It was only about eight feet down, but as he looked around at what traveling though the vents meant, he felt his heartbeat pick up.

"Come on, get out of the way so I can follow you!" Vhe'dn hissed above him. Ando moved to the side and she dropped down. He reached and moved the floor panel back into place.

Ando swallowed the ball of fear rising in his throat and crouched, entering the tunnel ahead of him.

"Wow, tight fit, eh?"

Ando didn't respond. He began to army crawl through the claustrophobic duct, trying not to concentrate on how his shoulders scraped the sides. _Fierfek_, he hated tunnels...

"You okay?" Vhe'dn asked him. He didn't know how much time had passed.

"Yeah," he panted. "Why?"

"You're going to pass out if you keep breathing like that," Vhe'dn told him.

Ando felt his cheeks heat up; he forced his breathing to steady. They padded silently along the vent until they came to a slope.

"Fierfek," Ando muttered.

"What?" Vhe'dn asked.

"Going down," he said. "Why did we go head first?"

"So you could keep a weapon ahead of you," Vhe'dn explained. She paused. "Your weapons are in their holsters, aren't they?"

Ando said nothing, and instead began to slide down the incline. He was afraid he would get jammed any second.

"I _can't_ slide!" Vhe'dn hissed. "This is metal on metal!"

Vhe'dn growled in frustration and Ando heard her shifting, and the sound of her wrap being flung around. Ando attempted to keep his speed down.

"Woah, woah, _woah!"_ Vhe'dn whispered. Ando felt her slam into his legs.

After agonizing seconds, the duct leveled off again. They continued to crawl along.

"Wait, stop," Vhe'dn hissed. Ando heard her fumble with her gauntlet. "This is where we get off. Find a panel."

Ando was more than relieved by the news. He ran his gloved over the seams, waiting for one to catch. He moved forward until he found one.

"Here," he breathed. He moved past it. "Lift that one."

He heard Vhe'dn lift it, and he held his body up for her to slide it under him as quietly as she could. Slowly, cautiously, Ando backed up feet first and dropped down out of it. He landed in a hall, one side blocked by a blast door, and with an entrance on it's side on the other end. He waved for Vhe'dn to follow, who lid out head first for him to catch. She winked at him as he set her down. Ando grimaced and drew his pistols, keeping to the wall. Vhe'dn beat him to the open doorway. Cautiously, silently, they peered around the edge. Vhe'dn flipped back around, back to the wall. She held up her blaster.

_Ready?_ she mouthed.

"You go in at an angle," Ando whispered.

"No ions," Vhe'dn instructed. Ando nodded.

Without another word need being said, Ando swung around into the middle of the doorway and opened fire. He saw Vhe'dn roll around the door and streak past, following the wall and firing at the droids. The droids scrambled around in a panicked confusion, and three dropped before they even began to return fire. Ando began to run in the opposite direction as Vhe'dn.

"Lock us down, lock us down!" a droid was screaming. "Alert for intruders!"

"_Ando!"_ Vhe'dn was screaming over the noise of blasters. _"Command deck!"_

"Right!" Ando said, deftly taking out the droids standing guard at the main console. An alarm sounded. Ando ducked behind an incline as return fire zipped over his head. He turned and squeezed off a few shots and caught sight of Vhe'dn blasting her way through a droid right before she threw herself behind the console and a flurry of fire followed her.

Ando rolled and sprinted forward, picking off the culprit. Vhe'dn popped up and braced her blaster on the console, taking out the remaining droid to his left. And icon in Ando's HUD flashed and he whipped his head up.

_"Look out!"_ he yelled, but the alarm was too loud. Vhe'dn shrieked as a volley of shots rained down from above her. Ando pulled his targeting reticle into place and took aim at the catwalk with his pistol. He squeezed off two careful shots and the droid crumpled, falling off the walk and crashing down to the floor in parts. The fire ended.

"Vhe'dn?" Ando called cautiously, the station alarm blaring.

Slowly, he saw her emerge from behind the console, looking white in the face but unharmed. Ando let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Vhe'dn opened a hatch and pressed a button. The alarm was replaced with silence.

"All right, let's get to work before more show up," Vhe'dn said. "This place is falling apart..."

She smacked a control and the entrance slammed shut, followed by the blast door. Vhe'dn shoved a droid off the console. Ando paced over to her, her fingers flying over the keys. She scoffed.

"Hideous," she murmured, and plugged a cord into a port. Ando walked up the stairs and watched the view screen on the wall shift,

"What'd you do?" he asked her.

"Changed the system; trust me, it'll go much smoother this way," she said offhandedly. She unwound another cord.

"Plug that in there," she ordered. Ando complied, feeling his adrenaline begin to ebb but his alertness remain.

"Hmm..." Vhe'dn tested a few buttons. She looked at him and tapped the side of her head.

"You have the Republic's scramble set in there, right?" she asked him.

He nodded.

"Send it to this," she tapped her computer.

"What?" he scoffed.

Vhe'dn groaned. "Ando, _trust me_. I'm going to send them the bypass codes and measures, _please,_ just do it."

Ando clenched his fist and exhaled, but nodded. Vhe'dn showed him something on her gauntlet and he did as instructed. Vhe'dn pressed a few commands on her gauntlet, then hit a few on the console.

"Here they are," Vhe'dn breathed. "Sending_... hey!"_

"What?"

Vhe'dn looked at him, and he didn't like her expression.

"They have no connection..." Vhe'dn breathed. "They're as blacked out as us."

"Impossible. What does that mean?"

"It _means_ we can't send any messages and that we can't send your friends their codes," Vhe'dn explained, frustrated. Her fingers flew over the console. "This doesn't make any sense..."

They both looked up suddenly as a tapping began on the door.

"Fierfek..." Ando muttered, and he flew down the steps to the opposite exit, shoving a repulser cart out of the way.

"I'm going to try pinging the codes into space!" Vhe'dn yelled. "The Republic might catch it, and it doesn't matter if anyone else does!"

"Vhe'dn, get this door open! Let's go!" he ordered.

"Coming..." she murmured. She hit a control and paused. She hit it again. "They've locked the system again!"

Ando swore and ran over to the panel, punching it with his gauntlet blade. He tore off that cover and began to rip out wires. It spat sparks.

"Ando, stop, you'll make it worse!"

Ando ignored her and sparked two wires together. The blast door inched open just enough to squeeze through, and the inner door inched open just barely before it stopped. Ando growled in frustration.

"Vhe'dn, get back into the system!" he yelled. There was a shrieking noise and the opposite door began to glow at the seams. _"Now!"_

"I'm trying!"

The inner door began to slowly inch open again.

"_That_ door should lead us straight out; it's a back exit," Vhe'dn called.

"Good!" Ando dismissed. He grabbed either side of the door and attempted to muscle it along.

Suddenly, Vhe'dn screamed.

_"Ando, look out!"_

"Wh-"

Everything went black.

**********

"Shab!" Vhe'dn swore, sprinting down the stairs. "Shab, shab, _shab!_"

"Ando!"

She fell down to her knees beside him where he lay on the floor. She gasped when she saw his face; his helmet had completely shattered, eerily exposing the man's face behind it. Ando was bloody, but recognizable, his eyes closed. Vhe'dn could clearly see the circle outline of where the pipe had come loose and smashed straight into his face. It hung nearby where it had broken loose from the ceiling, throwing sparks, it's stress fractures showing that it had been waiting for an excuse to blow.

"_Ando_, wake up, _wake up!"_ Vhe'dn breathed, shaking him. She lowered her face to his, listening for breathing. A warm rush of adrenaline washed over her when she felt his breath. She straightened.

"Oh, shab, shab, _shab_," she rocked back and forth, staring around. She caught sight of the repulser cart and scrambled to it, acutely aware of the noise taking place at the opposite door. They were almost through. She pushed the cart over to Ando and struggled to haul him up onto it. She panted with the effort.

"I'm sure all of those rock hard muscles are charming on a date, but for the love of _Manda_, you weigh a _ton!"_ Vhe'dn gasped.

She strained and managed to hoist him on part way, and rolled him on the rest. She ran back to the console.

"All right, you want to get serious, I'll _get_ serious," Vhe'dn growled. She ejected a small object from her gauntlet and inserted it into the console.

"Bye, buddy..."

Suddenly, there was a loud _thunk_ and the droids blasted through the door.

"There!" one called in its whiney, electronic voice. "Get her!"

Vhe'dn opened fire, sprinting over to a pile of crate. She threw herself behind them and pressed a button on her gauntlet.

There was a hideous noise and the console overloaded, the sounds of dying droids soon joining it as it traveled through the terminals, trimming their numbers. The doors wheezed open. Vhe'dn moved for Ando and took running aim, picking off a droid moving to stop her. She slammed into the cart and forced it to move up the exit hall. She could hear fire behind her, but she just ran, blindly squeezing off shots behind her.

"Enjoy your self-destruct..." she panted.

Her boots hit dirt as she exited the upward incline and she was met with cold, fresh air and bright light. She made for the trees. Blaster fire began to zip past her, but she just dropped her head and ignored her protesting thighs.

There was an explosion and Vhe'dn was shocked with the temperature change. She barreled into the trees. The roar was deafening. Vhe'dn kept going. She needed to get away in case there were off-post patrols nearby that would come searching.

She glanced down at Ando's limp form.

_Please, be okay..._


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"Sir!" the trooper sprinted up to him and saluted. Sevets turned.

"Lieutenant," he acknowledged.

"Sir," the trooper was breathless, practically bursting, "we have communications."

Sevets mouth opened a fraction. He spun and began to shout orders down the lines of manned consoles. There was a flurry of action as the orders were picked up and began to travel down, being repeated and expanded upon. He stomped up to a trooper.

"Contact A-14," he ordered bluntly.

"Yes, sir," came the curt reply. The trooper keyed away.

"Put me through," Sevets said

Sevets waited, poised, hearing nothing but comm static. He waited.

Waited.

"Sir, there's nothing," the trooper finally said. "Beta Zone is still down."

Sevets exhaled a tight, disappointed breath. He composed himself.

"He's alive," he stated. He walked away, observing the buzz and movement suddenly taking place around him.

_You did it, Ando._

Sevets began to bark orders.

**********

_Twenty minutes. A spare twenty minutes. He should have been going to grab a quick, relatively hot meal; he knew he needed it; and yet Ando found his feet taking him straight to Castilla. He had the desperate need to apologize to her. He didn't exactly know what he had done, but she had been hurt by their previous conversation, and Ando felt that he had to fix it. He just hoped that he'd know what to say._

_He came to the entrance of her home. He stood there for a while, staring at the doorway, when some one shoved him into the door jam from behind. He swung his head around to look. Damper just winked at him and continued past. Ando sighed._

_"Castilla?" he called. "You there?"_

_"Ando?" came her soft reply._

_"Yes, ma'am."_

_"Come on in."_

_Castilla bustled around, her many head tails swinging, bringing cups of tea to the table. She indicated with a small smile for him to sit. He did, and helped himself to the snacks laid out before him. Castilla sat across from him, staring at him with those large, black eyes. Feeling scrutinized, Ando paused._

_"Um…" he began._

_"Ando, you don't have to apologize," Castilla dismissed with her song like voice. She stared down into her cup, fingering the handle. "I understand why you were upset."_

_Ando hadn't expected that and didn't know how to respond. Castilla looked up and stared at him, collected._

_"It's not fair of me to expect you to deal with anything more than you already have to work on."_

_Ando sat silent for a few moments, then said to his cup, "You know, ma'am, I did come here to apologize, but you're making it difficult for me."_

_"It's okay, Ando…"_

"No,"_ Ando interrupted firmly. "It's_ not _okay, and I know it."_

_Castilla surprised him by smiling. Her eyes sparkled. He wished he knew more of the subtleties of Nautolan expression._

_"I'm a big girl, sweetheart," she teased._ Sweetheart; _why did she always call him that? "Really, it's okay. I'm already over it."_

_Ando was silent. Castilla laughed softly._

_"You're adorable, Ando…"_

**********

Ando woke suddenly with a sharp intake of breath, and was immediately bombarded by a splitting headache. He swore.

"That's quite a colorful expletive."

Ando jumped, startled, as Vhe'dn spoke from where she was sitting very close beside him. He fumbled to push himself upright, but his vision honeycombed and he fell back down. He groaned.

"What happened?" he slurred, grabbing his head.

"You took a pipe to the face," Vhe'dn explained; Ando became aware of her tugging on him, and he accepted her help to prop his back up against the fallen tree behind them. He groggily covered his face with his hands, rubbing, then gasped loudly, tearing them away from his face in shock as it erupted into blinding pain.

"I wouldn't do that," Vhe'dn said, taking his hands. "Um... you're pretty badly torn up."

"What - happened?" Ando demanded, overwhelmed with a multitude of pains. He fought to keep still, his body telling him to writhe and cry. Why did it hurt to move his lips?

_"Udesii!"_ Vhe'dn said. "Please, just calm down, it's not that bad. You know who you are right?"

"Advance Recon Commando A-14..." he felt delirious; the light hurt his eyes.

"Good, and you know who I am?"

"An annoying shoulder growth?"

"Yeah, you're all right," Vhe'dn's smile was evident in her voice. He looked at her.

"Stop scowling," she told him. "It'll only hurt."

_"Tell me what happened!"_ Ando regretted yelling instantly. He clutched at his head. "Sharp..." he moaned.

"All right, all right..." he heard Vhe'dn digging. She placed a sharp in his hand and he wasted no time in stabbing it in his neck. He glanced at Vhe'dn. She was grimacing.

"Do I really look that bad?"

"Well, that's not really what I meant," Vhe'dn began, "but honestly, I think it's an improvement."

Ando scoffed, rocking, begging the sharp to kick in faster.

"All right," Vhe'dn said, shifting so she could look at him. "The facility was a piece of _osik_. A pipe came loose and caught you in the face. It shattered your helmet and you'll have one hell of a scar when it heals. I blew up the station and wheeled you out on a repulser cart. Now, don't panic; I cleaned you up and the damage isn't as disfiguring as you'd think." Vhe'dn had the nerve to laugh. "I even put your nose back where it belonged when you were asleep so you don't have to find out what that feels like."

Ando gaped at her.

"Please, don't panic."

"You blew up the station," Ando repeated, unbelieving, "and wheeled me out on a repulser cart?"

"Fancy, eh?"

Ando breathed out heavily and slumped.

"Thanks," he said softly.

Vhe'dn smiled warmly. "I do believe I remember one Ando taking care of his own concussion patient. I owed you."

"Hardly," Ando muttered. He looked at her balefully. "How bad is it?"

Vhe'dn sighed. "Well, it's here," she indicated her upper lip, "here," she indicated across her nose, "here," her brow, "and _here_," an arc across her forehead, "all on the left side like that. It'd look better with stitches, but I don't know how."

"I do," Ando said. He pushed himself up straighter. "You ready?"

Vhe'dn narrowed her eyes at him. "For what?"

"You're going to learn how to stitch flesh."

"Oh no," Vhe'dn laughed. "No, no, no, no, no. No way."

Ando smiled a wicked little smile, as much as he could muster with his throbbing face.

"Okay, we're going to need the needle, the twine, some disinfectant, and how about you pass me another sharp..."

**********

Vhe'dn looked positively queasy.

"I am never going to forgive you for making me do this," she groaned, pulling on the needle. "What if I screw up?"

"You'll do fine," Ando reassured her. He felt odd; the pain was intense, but he felt like he was grasping lazily at the tendrils of acknowledging it. The sharps had definitely kicked in. His face was so numb from the pain that he could hardly feel it when Vhe'dn's fingers brushed his lips.

He started laughing.

"And what, may I ask," Vhe'dn griped, concentrated on her work, "is so funny?"

Ando found that he couldn't stop.

"It hurts!" he laughed, his eyes beginning to tear. Vhe'dn raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah, I can see how that would be hilarious..." Vhe'dn mumbled sarcastically, the back of the needle jammed between her lips as she pulled on the twine.

Ando snatched her hand and she gave him an odd stare.

"What are those?" he asked her, indicating the back of her hand.

"_Tattoos?"_ she shook her head at him "Ando, would you calm down and just let me finish this? I don't exactly enjoy it."

Ando sighed and released her hand.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm trying to concentrate on anything besides how you are sewing through wound and bruise."

Vhe'dn tugged on the thread.

"You want to add vomit to that mix?"

"Sorry."

Vhe'dn continued stitching in silence.

"You're lucky that you had that helmet to take most of the blow," Vhe'dn commented, eyes fixed on his face. "Split skin could have been a dental job and a coma. Wouldn't want to ruin those perfect teeth of yours."

So she was observant. Ando scrubbed the back of his head, then reached down and shifted where his upper armor plates laid stacked on the ground beside him.

"I would have preferred none of it," he remarked.

"That goes without saying," Vhe'dn said. "But who knows. If it heals well, the scarring might look _dashing_."

Ando grimaced at her. Vhe'dn shrugged.

"Just saying," she defended.

Ando hissed as the needle was passed through a particularly tender area.

"Sorry," Vhe'dn apologized. "I'm almost done."

"There," she said, and cut the thread. She rocked back on her heels, looking over her work. Ando waited.

"Well, it's way better than before," she remarked.

Vhe'dn snatched up a rag, soaked it in disinfectant, and offered it to him. Ando took it and dabbed it all over his face.

"I'm sure you'll look much better once the swelling goes down."

"You don't have to keep reassuring me," Ando mumbled from behind the rag. When he moved it, Vhe'dn was staring sympathetically at him.

"Come on, you're making me feel worse."

"Sorry," Vhe'dn looked away.

She stood and rinsed off her hands, pulling her gloves and gauntlets back on. Ando watched her closely. He sighed, rolling his neck; it was stiff.

"What happened after I was knocked out?" Ando asked, slouching down against the tree. "Was going there a complete waste?"

Vhe'dn sat down across from him.

"I don't know yet," she sighed. "We still don't have comms, I checked. I don't know about the rest of the planet; I pinged out the codes randomly, but I don't know if they were picked up. _This_ area, though, is still black."

Ando nodded grimly.

"We need to keep going," Vhe'dn continued, "but right now you need to rest and get over that dizziness. We can just hope for your buddies' sakes that they managed to pick up those codes." Vhe'dn shook her head. "I did what I could."

"No," Ando interjected, "you did good."

Ando paused, formulating groggy words in his mind, trying to make sure he wouldn't say anything he would regret when the painkillers wore off. He took a shaky breath.

"Thanks for not leaving me behind there," he said. "Thanks for the help."

Vhe'dn smiled. "Trust me now?"

Ando gave her a wry expression. "Maybe. With recent events, I'm beginning to think my mistrust is just based on a grudge at this point."

"I'm thinking I agree."

"I didn't think a Mandalorian could be capable of such emotional capacity," Ando commented.

Vhe'dn gave him a curious expression.

"I didn't expect much from you either, Ando," she said softly. "But look where we are now."

Ando fell silent, pondering.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Well, if you could see it, the swelling has gone down almost completely," Vhe'dn commented.

Ando nodded soberly, but Vhe'dn could tell he was in a good mood. Maybe it was the painkillers and maybe it was just him trying to keep his head under the stress of not knowing what to do or where to go next, but either way, Ando was either relaxed or feigning relaxation very well. He lounged against the tree; every time he tried to stand, he said his sight would go black and he'd start to fall. Vhe'dn didn't know whether to be concerned about it or not, but Ando seemed relatively jovial, so Vhe'dn tried not to concentrate on it too much.

She paused.

"All right, let's play an age old warrior pastime," Vhe'dn said, shifting in front of him with a smile. " 'How'd You Get That Scar.' "

Ando narrowed his eyes at her.

"You made that up."

"Gee, could you tell? You going to cooperate or not?"

"All right."

"Okay," Vhe'dn said. She pointed at the back of his currently bare hand. "How about that one?"

"The elements," Ando said. "Field shrapnel."

"Okay."

Ando looked over her face.

"You don't have any scars," he commented.

"Astute observation."

"Okay then, how did you get that tattoo on your back?"

Ando surprised her. She laughed.

"You saw that?" she rubbed her neck. "How do you think I got it? I paid someone to put it there."

A few minutes passed of scarring explanations. Vhe'dn reached up and poked at a small scar on Ando's jaw line.

"And this one?" she asked.

Ando smiled sheepishly. "Shaving."

They chuckled softly. Vhe'dn drew her hand away from his face, the moment growing far to intense for her.

Ando seemed to be considering something. He spoke.

"How old are you, Vhe'dn?"

Vhe'dn perked up at the question. "Does it matter?"

Ando shrugged innocently. "Just curious."

Vhe'dn squinted her eyes at him, trying to discern deeper meaning, but Ando just stared calmly back. She didn't get anything from his eyes. She relented.

"I'm seventeen," she said. Ando just raised his eyebrows a hair as if pondering the response. "You can't be much older," she continued in defense.

Humor lit Ando's face and he let out a harsh laugh that made his arms, crossed over his chest, rise and fall.

"Not exactly..." he said, his voice and expression a combination of humor and reflection. He uncrossed his arms and pushed himself into a more upright position, casually resting his elbows on the log behind him. Vhe'dn bristled.

"What?" she huffed. "You just look young for your age?"

"Not _exactly_," Ando repeated, the small smile he was trying to hide behind biting the sides of his pointer finger telling her that he was laughing at her expense. Vhe'dn decided to play along.

"Um... twenty-five?" she guessed.

"No."

"_Thirty_?"

"You're getting farther off."

"Twenty-two?"

"_Technically_," he said. He was playing her. There was a twinkle in Ando's eye and a subtle, goofy smile on his face; he was clearly enjoying himself. Vhe'dn felt a reluctant smile reach her lips as well.

"What the hell does that mean?" she laughed.

"Younger," Ando chided.

"Twenty."

"Younger."

Vhe'dn gave him an expression that said she didn't believe him. Ando shrugged in response.

"_Seriously?_" she questioned.

"Seriously," Ando assured her with put on enthusiasm.

"Nineteen."

"Younger."

"_Eighteen_?"

"Younger," Ando trilled. He was grinning, at this point.

Vhe'dn gaped.

"You're messing with me..."

Ando shrugged toyingly. "I'm not."

"You _can't_ be seventeen."

"True."

"Ando, stop playing with me!" Vhe'dn burst. She leapt up to pound her fists against him. Ando laughed and blocked her hands. She fell back down beside him.

"All right, all right..." Ando laughed, shifting to face her. He breathed in, suddenly very calmed and said, "I'm eleven years old."

Ando looked at her expectantly. Slowly, she scowled.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" she said darkly.

"For me, that would be a luxury," Ando said. Vhe'dn had difficulty placing his emotion.

There was a beat as they stared each other down.

Finally, Vhe'dn grinned. "You're enjoying this far too much."

The side of Ando's lips tugged upward. "Maybe."

Vhe'dn laughed. "Now come on, seriously; how old are you?"

Ando sighed suddenly and rocked, facing away from her again, slouching heavily against the log. "I really wasn't lying," he said, suddenly very devoid of humor. He paused. "I'm twenty-two years old."

He was staring ahead of himself, at nothing in particular. Vhe'dn saw his emotions shift. A small, sad smile touched her lips. "That's so young," she said softly, moving closer to him. "You should be out chasing girls at this age, not fighting this war."

Ando turned his head to look her straight in the eye. She couldn't place what the look meant. Worry? "I could say the same about you."

Vhe'dn raised an eyebrow. "That I should be out chasing girls?"

Ando's mouth opened a fraction.

"No, I-that's... that's not what I _meant_, I..." Ando stumbled. Vhe'dn saw his face start to burn. He pushed himself up taller against the log, uncomfortable, looking away from her.

Vhe'dn smiled sympathetically, taken. "Calm down," she laughed softly. She reached to put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to stop. "I'm just joking with you Ando, I know what you meant." Ando turned his head and met her eyes again. He looked embarrassed, so she smiled at him reassuringly. Her emotion dimmed to something more serious. "I have a choice to fight, Ando. If I wanted to be out chasing prospective partners, I could be. But I chose to make some spare credits first."

Ando paused, then reached over and took her hand.

"I'm eleven years old, Vhe'dn," he stated, very serious. Vhe'dn squinted her eyes at him. "It's true. For all intents and purposes, yes, physically, I'm twenty-two. The Kaminoans alter clone DNA so that we would grow to full, physical maturity in the course of ten years. I'm eleven," he repeated, touching the palm of his free hand to his chest.

Vhe'dn stared at him, and she could feel a subtle expression of horror slowly form across her face. She was wearing gloves, but where Ando held her hand felt like a burn. She put a little pressure into pulling it away and she felt Ando reluctantly relinquish his hold.

She didn't look at him. "Does the aging process stop when you reach peak maturity?" she asked, already fearing the answer.

Vhe'dn could feel Ando's glum, serious expression on her, so she looked at him again.

"No," he stated simply, his tone implying that he felt the same social injustice about the fact as she did. The single, bitter syllable drove a fearful stake into her heart.

"You mean..." Vhe'dn stumbled over her words and emotions, "you're...." she stopped and breathed in and out once, "you're _eleven?_" she repeated, at a loss.

Ando nodded grimly, looking grizzly in his stitches, and looked away from her.

"Yeah."

"Wow," Vhe'dn whispered, looking at the ground. "I don't know what to say. I don't know what I _should_ say."

"You don't have to say anything," Ando spoke at the ground. Vhe'dn looked at him, and could see his shell hardening. She decided not to prod him.

"Wow," she said. She laughed softly, shaking her head. "And to think of all the _osik_ you gave me for being seventeen. I'm _older_ than you."

Ando looked at her and grimaced. Vhe'dn laughed. Finally, Ando caved and joined her, laughing breathy little laughs. Vhe'dn looked over his face fondly, knowing she was only trying to hide her fear.

**********

It had grown dark about two hours before, and yet Ando sat up cleaning the blasters. They didn't exactly need to be cleaned, but cleaning them was therapeutic, as Ando was beginning to feel the restlessness of inaction. So, he kept his hands busy.

Tentatively, he ran a finger over the wound on his forehead. His finger rose and fell over the raised skin, but fortunately the raised area seemed to stay confined to where the stitches were.

He glanced over at Vhe'dn, who laid curled up on the ground, asleep. Her breath puffed out periodically as little bursts of fog. She looked exhausted; darkened rings had begun to form around her eyes. They weren't exactly detracting, but they were certainly testament to the stress on her system. Ando tried not to think about how bad he looked in comparison. He looked back to his blaster.

Ando knew, and he knew Vhe'dn knew too, that if they didn't find some way to comm someone, or someone didn't find them soon, that they would be in trouble. Ando didn't mention it, but the rations were almost gone; he knew from the way Vhe'dn looked at him, though, that she could tell. She hadn't said anything. She hadn't thrown a fit or panicked. Ando was afraid he'd beat her to it.

He sighed, and laid the blaster on the ground. He watched Vhe'dn for a while, until he found that he couldn't keep his head from nodding, and he submitted to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Ando picked at the shattered remains of his helmet. Where the visor should have been, a large, jagged hole filled its place. It was sobering to consider what the pipe would have done to his face if it had not been there to cushion the impact. He prodded at his stitches.

"Quit poking those," Vhe'dn complained. "You're not proving anything."

Ando set his helmet down and addressed her.

"I don't feel so dizzy today," he commented.

"Good," Vhe'dn murmured, tapping away on her computer.

Ando sat silent for a moment.

"Why are you helping me, Vhe'dn?" he asked, all seriousness.

Vhe'dn looked at him from over her screen.

"So I can make it out of here alive," she shrugged off the question.

"It would have been far easier to just let the droids take me away and then call your friends," Ando said, refusing to let her drop it.

Vhe'dn began talking in rapid _Mando'a. "Cuy ogir'olar_, Ando, _n'nari kebbu at mar'eyi mayen o'r bic. Cuy-"_

"Woah, woah, woah," Ando put his hands up, indicating for her to stop. "Basic, please."

Vhe'dn looked at him funny. "I thought you knew _Mando'a..."_

"Yeah," Ando griped, "a few offhand words and phrases maybe, common stuff; swears. But nothing near being able to use it."

Vhe'dn looked deflated. She opened her mouth to say something, seemed to reconsider, then tried again.

"Well in that case... _gar cuyi b-"_ she started.

Ando cut her off, throwing a hand up suddenly. Vhe'dn stopped talking.

"You hear that?" he whispered.

A quiet _clack clack clack._

_Droids._

Ando's hands traveled to his holsters. He watched as Vhe'dn's hand snaked over to her own weapon. Her fist tightened around it. Her other hand made it's way to grasp the pack. He stared intensely into her eyes.

_Run_, he mouthed.

Vhe'dn nodded, and without another word they sprung up and sprinted into the trees. Blaster fire erupted behind them, as did the whining orders of battle droids. As Ando leapt over foliage, his vision began to blur and darken, and he could feel his heartbeat in his temples.

_Oh, bad idea_, he thought. _Just stay upright. Don't fall. Move. Move, move, move..._

Ando couldn't tell if he was running straight or if he was running at the ground. His shoulder burned, _why did his shoulder burn?_ Slowly, his vision and hearing began to swim back into focus. He was extremely unsteady, but he was upright and moving. He saw Vhe'dn running off to the side of him and squeezed off a few defensive shots aimed behind him. He came to a larger tree and put his back to it, then turned around and fired. He pressed his back against it for the return fire. His legs felt like jelly.

"Ando!" Vhe'dn was shouting to his left, but it sounded like it was coming through a tunnel. He turned to look at her. She fired off a few shots around the tree, then pressed flat against it. "Get ready to go!"

"What?" Ando was acutely aware of his own uneven breathing rattling in his ears. He was sweating.

Instead of answering, Vhe'dn reached into the pack and lobbed something around the tree with all her might. She started running, and Ando sprinted after her without hesitation. There was a muted _boom_ behind him and a flash of bright light lit up the trees. _Ion_. Even though blaster fire stopped, neither stopped running. All Ando could hear was his ragged breathing echoing in his head and the far away sound of foliage crunching under his feet. The forest kept thickening until he couldn't see a foot ahead of him. He didn't know how long they had been running. He lost sight of Vhe'dn.

"Vhe'dn?" he called. No answer. _"Vhe'dn?"_

Ando suddenly broke through the trees into a clearing and was met with a blaster pointed straight at his head. He inhaled a little startled breath and instinctively brought his own weapons up to bare.

"Just drop them, Ando."

He looked over to the left where Vhe'dn stood, hands raised by her head, a gritted expression on her face as she stared down a similar blaster. Ando looked around to see dozens of armed humanoids poised to fire, looking dead serious. He hesitated.

"Ando," Vhe'dn urged. She was getting harder to hear. Everything was so foggy...

"Ando?" it sounded like Vhe'dn was shouting through a tunnel. _"Ando!"_

He was falling.

**********

Ando groaned and opened his eyes.

"You're making a habit of this aren't you?" came a warm, humorous voice to his right. "You fainted."

Slowly, he turned his head and Vhe'dn came into a fuzzy focus above him, her dark curls forming a frame around her face; it looked as though they had been trimmed.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Ando mumbled. He was in a room, he observed, and whatever he was laying on was sinfully comfortable.

"Happy to see me?" Vhe'dn teased.

"Not sure yet. You seem happy to see me, so obviously we're either already dead or have been assured a painless one," he murmured.

Vhe'dn laughed softly. "You're not dead. In fact, you're being taken care of."

Ando looked around the room. It was a crudely simple dwelling, thatched and primitive, but it was warm and boasted craftsmanship. He felt that his body suit was missing from the waist up.

"Where are we?" he questioned tentatively.

"We're in a native village. Those people who jumped us were some of its residents," Vhe'dn explained.

"Why?"

"Why'd they jump us? Because we're in a war zone," Vhe'dn said. She seemed suddenly excited and lowered her voice. "Ando, they know all about the Separatist base and how it was destroyed; _they're_ the ones blocking the communications in this area, so they weren't discovered by them."

Ando went to push himself upright, suddenly very interested, then hissed and fell as his right shoulder began to burn. Vhe'dn reached out to help him; her gauntlets were missing. Where the blanket had slipped off him, Ando now saw the bandages around his shoulder.

"You got clipped," Vhe'dn said, helping to prop him up. "You must not have noticed it when it happened."

"No, I remember," Ando said. "I just didn't realize what it was at the time."

"Ah."

Ando looked around the room as if analyzing it for threat. He addressed Vhe'dn quietly.

"Are we allowed to leave?"

Vhe'dn stared at him in seriousness. "No. Technically, they aren't being hostile, but no, we can't just go."

She showed him her arms with a grim smile; her gloves were missing.

"Took my gaunts again," she commented.

Ando nodded.

"Did they patch me up?" he asked.

"Yes," Vhe'dn said with a small smile. "Got some proper help, so you shouldn't be so dizzy anymore. They said it wasn't serious."

She sounded breathless, relieved.

"We've got to convince them to let us contact someone," Ando said grimly. He felt the most levelheaded as he had in days. "They seem reasonable, at least."

Vhe'dn nodded.

"They-"

She stopped suddenly as three beings entered the dwelling. Her hand instinctively went out to rest on Ando's forearm in a protectoral gesture as she shifted to face them. Ando pushed himself up to sit straight.

"You're up, I see," the man who was clearly in charge spoke, addressing Ando. He seemed firm, no nonsense, but nothing in his stature suggested he was cruel. "How are you?"

"Better," Ando said, on edge but portraying calm. "Thank you, sir."

The man nodded. He was dressed simply and functionally in skins.

"I can tell that you are not a man of pleasantries," the man said, pacing into the room "so I won't hound you with them. My name is Bakari. You are a soldier with the Republic?"

"Yes, lieutenant designation Ay One Four," Ando stated. He noticed that while the two beings flanking him were carrying weapons, Bakari was not.

"What were you doing out here with..." he glanced at Vhe'dn with distaste, "...a Mandalorian?"

Ando spoke before Vhe'dn could.

"Vhe'dn is an ally," he said. The words felt strange in his mouth. "I was out here looking for the Separatist base that was blocking the Republic's communications over this moon." Lying wouldn't do him any good. Ando felt that Bakari already knew all of this.

"And?"

"And I was successful."

"So what are you still doing here?" Bakari was testing him.

Ando played along. "This is Beta Zone. Me and my _partner_ still are not capable of communications and are stranded here."

Bakari said nothing for a moment.

Ando continued. "Is there any way that we could contact someone to come retrieve us?"

"That would just bring the war to this area, and it was neither you nor the Separatist's right to take this planet," Bakari said darkly, moving to exit. Ando sprung up, and was relieved when he didn't fall back down.

"Sir, please," he reasoned. Vhe'dn had stood up beside him. "Do you really plan to keep us hostage here?"

"I _plan_ to let you go," Bakari said, escorts on edge.

"Back into the forest?" Ando asked. "We'll die."

"So be it."

"We _destroyed_ that station," Ando exclaimed, brandishing an arm. "They would have found you eventually."

"And why would they treat us any differently than your forces? You're both invaders to us," Bakari accused.

"But you're willing to condone our deaths over it?" Vhe'dn stepped in.

"_No_," Bakari snapped darkly. "I'm _not_." He breathed a deep, discontented breath. "The battle here will not end, will it, even if I ask of it?"

Ando stared the man down with a grim expression. "I can't promise you anything."

Bakari nodded, burdened. "You can contact your friends, and you can leave. Stay away from this area."

He looked around.

"I'll send someone to come get you soon," he finished, and ducked out, his escorts following.

Ando stood looking at the doorway in silence, feeling an odd sort of failure. He suddenly felt Vhe'dn lay her hand on his back; her fingers were icy cold, and it jumped him back into the moment. He unclenched his fists and looked over his shoulder at her. She gave him a small, reassuring smile. He sighed and sat back down onto the cot. Vhe'dn bustled around and laid the rest of his body suit on his lap.

"It's cold outside," she said. "Better get ready."

Things were coming to an end, and yet Ando didn't feel the relief he thought he should.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

The contacting had gone flawlessly, if Ando discounted what Sevets had said he was going to do to him for scaring him like that. Ando knew it was all bravado; he knew Sevets was just stressed and worried.

Vhe'dn and Ando now wandered aimlessly through the small village, freed, but watched. Children kept coming over to inspect their armor, giggling and running circles around them. Ando found it all rather overwhelming, but Vhe'dn seemed thrilled to show them how everything worked. Ando was a child not so long ago, and yet he was finding it difficult to draw parallels between himself and the chaotic beings around him. They scattered suddenly in a flurry of movement and gleeful noise.

Vhe'dn grinned at him, and he had the feeling it was at his expense.

"They're not a threat, you know," she laughed.

They kept wandering, waiting for their respective rides until they eventually came to sit on the stoop of a home, watching a celebration unfold before them. It was someone's birthday, or something of the like, and the whole village seemed poised to make it a memorable one. It was so different than how people treated each other who lived on urban planets.

Ando had never celebrated a birthday.

He felt strange. Evening had fallen and there was a finality to it that almost left him remorseful, but he didn't know what for. Vhe'dn seemed wistful beside him. They sat in silence for a while, watching the people dance. Finally, Vhe'dn spoke.

"This mission didn't exactly turn out the way I thought it would," Vhe'dn said slowly. Ando looked over and down at her. She smiled sadly; why was she sad? Ando didn't respond, because in a way he couldn't explain, he was sad, too.

They sat quietly.

"Do you dance?" Vhe'dn asked. Ando looked at her; she was staring at the people.

"Technically," Ando responded. "They used dance on Kamino to teach melee forms."

Vhe'dn laughed softly, but Ando didn't know why. She looked at him curiously, then stood, standing in front of him. She indicated for him to join her.

"Come on," she said.

He did, following her into the outskirts of the dance. The song was something calmly upbeat, if the paradox could exist. Vhe'dn took his hands, and he fell into step easily enough, if not tentatively.

Vhe'dn laughed. "See, you're not that bad."

"I have excellent coordination," he quipped. Was he teasing her? He was delighted when he elicited a laugh from her.

"Charming," she cooed. It made him feel warm.

Ando pondered how ridiculous they must have looked, dancing in almost full armor. Vhe'dn stared at him fondly, and Ando became suddenly self-conscious of how hideous the stitches and bruises on his face must have been.

Vhe'dn didn't seem to notice.

"Sev sounded like a character," Vhe'dn commented, referring to Ando's conversation with his commander. She pulled away slightly so she could see him better. "That was what you called him, right?"

"Sevets," Ando corrected. He_ had_ called him Sev, but Sevets would probably have pummeled anyone else who called him by his pet name; he only barely tolerated Ando calling him that as it was, probably because he knew it wouldn't stop him.

"Oh," Vhe'dn said. "Please don't tell me he's actually going to do all that to you..."

"No," Ando gave a hard, flat chuckle. "He never means any of that."

"Is he a clone, too?"

"Uh huh. We grew up together."

"Well good, because if that's how they actually ran this army..."

Ando cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at her.

"You weren't planning on doing anything, now, were you?" he asked her toyingly.

"Well," Vhe'dn grinned, "I would say 'no,' but, you know me and meddling..."

They chuckled softly.

"All too well," he murmured.

Then there was suddenly the distinctive _guh-guh-guh_ sound of an approaching gunship, and Ando looked into the sky. He felt Vhe'dn let go of him, and he looked back to her. She was retreating rapidly from him.

"Vhe'dn!" he called, raising a hand in her direction, the gunship louder now and beginning to block out other sound.

She spun around, still moving backwards.

"I'll stay out of the Republic's way!" she yelled, winking at him with an odd smile on her face. The gunship appeared overhead, whipping up dust around him.

"Oh, and Ando!"

Ando looked to Vhe'dn one last time, almost out of sight. Her curls whipped all over her face.

"It's 'Vhe!' " she shouted with a smile. "My friends call me 'Vhe!' "

And with that, she disappeared.

Overwhelmed with the rapidness of their goodbyes, Ando hesitated, then ran to meet the gunship. The villagers had moved to the edges of the homes.

"Come on, Lieutenant!" a trooper from inside the bay doors shouted, extending a hand to him. "Rapid bang out, we've got a battle to finish!"

Ando ran and grasped the man's forearm and was hauled inside.

"Grab onto something, Ando, I'm not dropping back down to get you again if you fall out, and it'd better not be me!"

_That_ put a smile on Ando's face.

"Damper..." he smiled ruefully, addressing the pilot.

"Fierfek, Ando, did an animal chew you up and spit you out?" Damper yelled over the noise. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"No worse off than yours, Damper," Ando deadpanned.

"Regardless, _hold on_, or you'll be giving me a run for my money," the ship began to lift off and Ando reached up to latch onto a grip.

"What money?" he was grinning.

Damper laughed.

"Good to see you, too."

Vhe'dn couldn't help but flash across his mind, and Ando found himself staring out the doors into the trees long after the village was out of sight.

**********

"Hey, Bez..." Vhe'dn said huskily, embracing her friend as she reached her. Their armor clacked together. Bez pulled back to look her over, assessing her for injury. She tapped one of her curls.

"Nice haircut," Bez commented.

Vhe'dn grinned. "Yeah, it hurt."

Bez softened.

"Come on; Cajul is getting frantic," Bez said, jerking her head towards the ship. They began to walk for it, Bez's arm over her shoulder.

"Come on, Bez, you were worried, too," Vhe'dn teased.

Bez looked calm, unemotional, like she usually did, staring ahead at the ship.

"Of course I was," she dismissed. "We all were."

They made their way into the ship and up to the cockpit. Tosh, her R3 unit, whistled excitedly. Vhe'dn grinned and dropped to her knees to hug him.

"_Su'cuy, vod!"_ she laughed. She pulled back and ran her finger over his dirty trim, revealing yellow paint. "Who let you get this dirty?"

_"Vhe'dn!"_

Vhe'dn stood to submit to Cajul's bone-crushing hug.

"Your _ba'buir_ would have killed me!" he laughed, scrubbing her head.

"Glad to know you care about me," Vhe'dn grimaced, pushing him away to fix her hair out of her face.

"Where's your helmet, _Vhed'ika_?" Cajul rambled on excitedly, looking her over in a way similar to Bez.

"Gone," Vhe'dn stated. "It's back to _Manda'yaim_ for me, for a new one."

"Think you'll put some Jaig eyes on there?" Cajul suggested, wiggling his pointer fingers over his brow in example.

Vhe'dn shrugged. "Might. Could I call Dad?"

"What happened there, Vhe?" Bez asked, concerned.

"Let's take off first," Vhe'dn said. "These people don't like us."

"On it," Cajul stated, scrambling into the pilot's seat. Bez strapped into the copilot's chair with a deal more restraint, and Vhe'dn took the spare. Tosh wheeled out of the cockpit.

They entered space, then hyperspace, and Bez stood again.

"Now will you tell us?" she asked.

Vhe'dn took a deep breath, then started.

"There was an ARC trooper..."

_____________________________________________

(Stay tuned for the epilogue!)


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It had been an hour or two since they had entered hyperspace, and now Vhe'dn found herself stripped down to a simple, drab green flight suit, relaxing in the cabins. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was. She had tried to sleep, but her mind kept finding it's way back to Ando.

"Tosh," she said, "_mar'eyi Buir_."

About ten minutes passed, then Tosh whistled and projected a hologram. Vhe'dn jumped off the bunk.

_"Vor'e_," she said quietly.

"Hey, Vhe'dn," Isasha Oyre grinned at her from the hologram. Vhe'dn smiled.

"Hey, Dad."

"How are you?" he asked earnestly.

"I'm good, Dad. I was actually wondering if you could wire me some credits to rent an apartment on Coruscant for a few months?" Vhe'dn asked tentatively.

Isasha paused. "Why?"

Vhe'dn pressed on. "I think I'll spend some time at some universities, pick up a few things."

Isasha didn't seem convinced. "And?"

Vhe'dn hesitated. "And... I met someone."

"_Oh."_

"And I think I made a mistake of letting him slip through my fingers."

"Really."

"He's a Republic soldier," Vhe'dn blundered.

Isasha looked at her curiously. "I didn't know they had non-clone officers in the Grand Army."

"Well, they do, but..." Vhe'dn smiled sheepishly, "actually,_ Buir_, he _is_ a clone."

Isasha looked at her in an amused silence.

"Dad?" she tested.

Isasha shook his head with a smile. "You'll have to explain it to me, _ad'ika_."

"Of course," Vhe'dn said. She smiled. "I really _do_ plan to go to school, though. Meet you on Mandalore?"

"Yep."

"All right. Love you, Dad."

"Love you, too, Ben."

--------------------------------------------------------------

And that's the end of the Part One! Thank you to everyone who read it, and a BIG thank you to the people who always took the time to review; it was always much appreciated. If you plan to read Part Two and don't already have me on your Author Alert list, make sure to either do that or check back very soon, as I will begin posting it.


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